GIFT  OF 
A.   P.    Morrison 


GOLD 


i^jfaSiT' 


Other  Books  by  the  Same  Author 


The  Claim  Jumpers 
The  Wesurners 
The  Blazed  Trail 
Arizona  Night 
Blazed  Trail  Stories 
The  Cabin 
Camp  and  Trail 
Conjuror's  House 
The  Forest 

The  Rules  of  the  Game 
The  Mystery  (with 


Th^  Riverman 

The  Silent  Places 

The  Adventures  of  Bobby 

Orde 
The  Mountains 
The  Pass 
The  Magic  Forest 
The  Sign  at  Six 
The  Land  of  Footprints 
African  Camp  Fires 
Samuel  Hopkins  Adams) 


I  3  O    J  > 


I    TOLD   YOU   YOU   COULDN'T    LICK   ME,'    SAID   HE" 


GIFT  OF 
Copyright,  1913,  by 

DOUBLEDAY,  PaGE  &  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of 

trandation  into  foreign  languages^ 

indiiding  the  Scandinavian 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AT 

THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS,  GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS 
Part  I. — ^Panama 


I 

II 

III 


Oh,  Susannah! 3 

The  Hammerlock 7 

The  Voyage 19 

IV.    The  Village  by  the  Lagoon 28 

V.    A  Tropical  River 38 

The  Village  in  the  Jungle 44 

The  Trail 5^ 

Panama '  .  61 


VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 


IX.    Northward  Ho! 


76 


Part  II. — ^The  Golden  City 

X.    The  Golden  City 87 

XI.    I  Make  Twenty-five  Dollars loi 


ivil0502^2 


VI 


^lAPTER 

XII. 
XIII. 


XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 


CONTENTS 

PAOX 

Talbot  Deserts 115 

Up-River 129 

Part  III. — The  Mines 

Sutter's  Fort ,     .  141 

The  Gold  Trail 148 

The  First  Gold 164 

The  Diggings 170 

Beginnings  of  Government 176 

Sunday  at  Hangman's  Gulch     ...  185 

The  Gold  Washers ic  • 

We  leave  the  Diggings 203 

The  Strike     ....          ....  210 

The  Camp  on  the  Porcupine      .     .     .216 

The  Indians 221 

Battle 235 

We  Send  Out  Our  Treasure      .     .     .  244 

The  Robbery 249 

The  Bully 255 

The  Challenge 272 

The  Fight 284 

The  Express  Messenger 291 

Italian  Bar 298 

The  Overland  Immigrants      .     .     .     .312 

The  Prisoners 320 

The  Trial 327 

The  Rule  of  the  Lawless      .     •     .     .  333 

The  Last  Straw      .     , 342 


XXXVIII. 
XXXIX. 


XL. 

XLI. 

XLII. 
XLIII. 
XLIV. 

XLV. 
XLVI. 


CONTENTS  Vii 

The  Vigilantes 35^ 

The  Vigilantes  (continued)     ....  359 

Part  IV. — ^The  Law 

The  Rains 37i 

We  Go  Out 380 

San  Francisco  Again 39 2 

The  Golden  Web 404 

Plutocrats! 4i4 

The  Catastrophe 425 

The  Vision      .     o    .     .     o    .    .    .    .  433 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

" *I  told  you  you  couldn't  lick  me,'  said  he"  .        Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

"'You  hounds!'  he  roared.    'Don't  you  dare  try  to 

sneak  off!'" 78 

"The  big  man  whirled  to  the  floor"      ....      286 

"  We  marched  our  prisoner  in  double-quick  time   .    .    . 

to  the  agreed  rendezvous"     .        •        •        •        .      360 


GO  LD 

CHAPTER  I 
OH,  SUSANNAH! 

Somewhere  in  this  book  I  must  write  a  paragraph  ex- 
clusively about  myself.  The  fact  that  in  the  outcome  of 
allUiese  stirring  events  I  have  ended  as  a  mere  bookkeeper 
is  perhaps  a  good  reason  why  one  paragraph  will  be  enough. 
In  my  youth  I  had  dreams  a-plenty;  but  the  event  and  the 
peculiar  twist  of  my  own  temperament  prevented  their 
fulfilment.  Perhaps  in  a  more  squeamish  age  —  and  yet 
that  is  not  fair,  either,  to  the  men  whose  destinies  I  am 
trying  to  record.  Suffice  it  then  that  of  these  men  I  have 
been  the  friend  and  companion,  of  these  occasions  I  have 
been  a  part,  and  that  the  very  lacks  and  reservations  of  my 
own  character  that  have  kept  me  to  a  subordinate  position 
and  a  little  garden  have  probably  made  me  the  better 
spectator.  Which  is  a  longer  paragraph  about  myself 
than  I  had  purposed  writing. 

Therefore  I  will  pass  over  briefly  the  various  reasons, 
romantic  and  practical,  why  I  decided  to  join  the  gold  rush 
to  California  in  the  year  1849.  It  was  in  the  air;  and  I  was 
then  of  a  romantic  and  adventurous  disposition. 

The  first  news  of  the  gold  discovery  filtered  to  us  in  a 
roundabout  way  through  vessels  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 

3 


GOLD 

and  then  appeared  again  in  the  columns  of  some  Balti- 
more pajper.  Every  body  laughed  at  the  rumour ;  but  every- 
body remembered  it.  Theland  was  infinitely  remote;  and 
then,  as  now,  romance  increases  as  the  square  of  the  dis- 
tance. There  might  well  be  gold  there;  but  more  authen- 
tic were  the  reports  of  fleas,  rawhides,  and  a  dried-up 
coast.  Minstrel  shows  made  a  good  deal  of  fun  of  it  all, 
I  remember.  Then,  when  we  were  of  a  broad  grin,  came 
the  publication  of  the  letter  written  by  Governor  Mason  to 
the  War  Department.  That  was  a  sober  official  document, 
and  had  to  be  believed,  but  it  read  like  a  fairy  tale. 

"I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,"  wrote  the  governor, 
"that  there  is  more  gold  in  the  country  drained  by  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers  than  would  pay  the 
costs  of  the  late  war  with  Mexico  a  hundred  times  over." 
And  he  then  went  on  to  report  in  detail  big  nuggets  and  big 
washings,  mentioning  men,  places,  dates,  in  a  circumstan- 
tial manner  that  carried  conviction. 

Our  broad  grins  faded.  The  minstrels'  jokes  changed 
colour.  As  I  look  back,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  can  almost 
see  with  the  physical  eye  the  broad  restless  upheaval 
beneath  the  surface  of  all  society.  The  Mexican  war  was 
just  over,  and  the  veterans  —  young  veterans  all  —  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  adventure  turned  eagerly  toward  this 
glittering  new  emprise.  Out  in  the  small  villages,  on  the 
small  farms,  the  news  was  talked  over  seriously,  almost 
without  excitement,  as  offering  a  possible  means  of  lifting 
the  burden  war  had  laid.  Families  strained  their  resources, 
mortgaged  their  possessions,  to  equip  and  send  their  single 
strongest  members  to  make  the  common  fortune. 

4 


OH,    SUSANNAH! 

Then  came  the  song  that  caught  the  popular  ear;  and  the 
rush  was  on.  Most  great  movements  are  done  to  song, 
generally  commonplace.  It  was  so  in  this  instance.  Oh, 
Susannah!  or  rather  a  modification  of  the  original  made  to 
lit  the  occasion,  first  sung  in  some  minstrel  show,  ran  like 
fire  in  the  tinder  of  men's  excited  hopes.  From  every 
stage,  on  every  street  corner,  in  every  restaurant  and  hotel 
it  was  sung,  played,  and  whistled.  At  the  sound  of  its 
first  notes  the  audience  always  sprang  to  its  feet  and  cheered 
like  mad. 

The  desire  to  go  to  el-dorado  was  universal,  and  almost 
irresistible.  The  ability  to  go  was  much  more  circum- 
scribed. For  one  thing,  it  cost  a  good  deal  of  money;  and 
that  was  where  /  bogged  down  at  the  first  pull.  Then  1 
suppose  a  majority  did  have  ties  of  family,  business  or 
other  responsibilities  impossible  to  shake  off.  However,  wc 
all  joined  one  or  more  of  the  various  clubs  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  at  least  some  of  their  members  to  Cali- 
fornia; and  discussed  heatedly  the  merits  of  the  different 
routes;  and  went  into  minute  and  fascinating  details  as  to 
processes  of  which  we  knew  less  than  nothing;  and  sang 
OhySusannahf  and  talked  ourselves  into  a  glorified  fever 
of  excitement;  and  went  home  with  our  heads  in  the 
clouds.  Once  in  a  great  while  some  of  these  clubs  came  to 
something  —  as  a  body  I  mean;  for  individual  members 
were  constantly  working  themselves  up  the  summit  of 
resolution  to  rush  headlong  and  regardless  down  the  other 
side  and  out  of  our  sight.  When  a  man  had  reached  a 
certain  pitch  of  excitement  he  ran  amuck.  He  sold  any- 
thing, deserted  anything,  broke  through  anything  in  the 


GOLD 

way  of  family,  responsibility,  or  financial  lacks  in  order  to 
go.  But,  as  I  say,  occasionally  one  of  these  clubs  pooled 
its  individual  resources  and  bought  some  old  tub  of  a 
whaler,  or  oufitted  a  wagon  train,  and  started  off.  But 
generally  we  got  only  as  far  as  Ohj  Susannah!  I  remember 
once,  in  coming  out  from  one  of  our  meetings,  finding  myself 
next  a  solemn  and  earnest  youth  originally  from  my  own 
rural  village.  He  walked  by  my  side  for  several  squares 
lost  in  a  brown  study.    Then  suddenly  he  looked  up. 

"Frank,"  said  he  with  conviction,  "I  believe  I'll  go.  I 
know  most  of  this  talk  is  wildly  exaggerated,  but  I'm  sen- 
sible enough  to  discount  all  that  sort  of  thing  and  to  dis- 
beheve  absurd  stories.  I  shan't  go  with  the  slightest  notion 
of  finding  the  thing  true,  but  will  be  satisfied  if  I  do  reason- 
ably well.  In  fact,  if  I  don't  pick  up  more  than  a  hatful  of 
gold  a  day,  I  shall  be  perfectly  satisfied." 

Which  remark  suf&ciently  indicates  about  where  we  all 
were  I 


CHAPTER  n 
THE  HAMMERLOCK 

We  had  many  sorts  of  men  in  our  club,  but  nearly  all 
young.  One,  in  especial,  early  attracted  my  attention,  and 
held  it  through  all  the  changing  vicissitudes  of  our  many 
meetings.  I  say  attracted  me,  though  fascinated  would  be 
perhaps  the  better  word,  for  after  the  first  evening  of  his 
attendance  I  used  deliberately  so  to  place  myself  that  I 
could  watch  him. 

He  came  always  in  a  rather  worn  military  cape,  which 
on  entering  the  door  he  promptly  threw  back  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  display  the  red  lining.  This  seemed  an  appro- 
priate envelopment  of  his  flaming,  buoyant  personality. 
He  walked  with  his  chin  up  and  his  back  straight,  and  trod 
directly  on  and  over  the  ends  of  his  toes  so  that  he  seemed 
fairly  to  spring  with  vigour.  His  body  was  very  erect  and 
tall  and  pliant,  bending  easily  to  every  change  of  balance. 
If  I  were  never  to  have  seen  his  face  at  all  I  should  have 
placed  him  as  one  of  the  laughing  spirits  of  the  world.  His 
head  was  rather  small,  round,  well  poised,  with  soft  close- 
set  ringlets  all  over  it  like  a  cap,  in  the  fashion  of  some 
marble  gods  I  have  seen.  He  had  very  regular,  handsome 
features,  with  a  clear,  biscuit-brown  complexion,  and  a  close- 
clipped,  stubby,  light  moustache.  All  these  things  were 
interesting  and  attractive,  though  no  more  so  than  are  the 


GOLD 

vigour  and  beauty  of  any  perfect  animal.  But  the  quality 
of  his  eyes  placed  him,  at  least  to  me,  in  a  class  apart.  They 
were  sober,  clear  eyes,  that  looked  out  gray  and  contem- 
plative on  the  world  about  them;  so  that  one  got  the  instant 
impression  of  a  soul  behind  them  that  weighed  and  judged. 
Indeed  they  were  not  laughing  eyes  at  all,  and  rather  nega- 
tived the  impression  made  by  the  man's  general  bear- 
ing.  But  somewhere  down  in  them  something  flickered  like 
a  strong  burning  candle  in  a  brisk  wind.  Occasionally  it 
was  almost  out;  then  again  it  blazed  up  clear,  so  that  one 
thought  to  see  it  plainly  through  the  steady  brooding  look. 
It  always  fascinated  the  beholder,  for  it  was  mysterious. 
Whether  it  came  and  went,  grew  and  shrank,  following 
delicately  the  moods  or  reflections  of  the  spirit  within,  or 
whether  it  was  a  purely  fortuitous  effect  of  light  and 
refraction,  no  man  was  ever  able  to  say.  And  some  men 
later  made  some  very  bad  guesses.  I  myself  think  it  was 
the  devil  of  genius  —  a  devil  behind  the  steady  control  of  a 
clear  brain.  His  name,  I  soon  discovered,  was  Talbot  Ward. 
At  this  period  I  was  starting  in  as  an  assistant  book- 
keeper to  a  large  exporting  firm.  They  were  enterprising 
people,  and  already  they  were  laying  plans  to  capture  some 
of  the  California  trade.  The  office  talk  I  heard  concernin* 
the  purchase  of  ships,  the  consignment  of  arms,  the  engage- 
ment of  captains  and  of  crews  further  inflamed  my  imagi- 
nation. I  received  the  vast  sum  of  nine  dollars  per  week. 
As  I  was  quite  alone  in  the  world,  and  possessed  no  other 
resources,  the  saving  of  the  five  hundred  dollars  agreed 
upon  as  the  least  sum  with  which  it  was  possible  to  get  to 
California  was  fairly  out  of  all  question. 


THE    HAMMERLOCK 

One  evening,  after  the  meeting,  to  my  great  surprise, 
Ward  fell  into  step  with  me.  We  had  up  to  that  moment 
never  exchanged  a  word. 

"  In  New  York  long?  "  he  demanded. 

"About  six  months,"  I  told  him. 

"Farm  bred,  of  course?"  he  remarked.    "Where?" 

"Ashbury  in  Vermont,"  I  replied,  without  the  slightest 
feeling  that  he  was  intrusive. 

He  stopped  short  in  the  street  and  looked  me  up  and 
down  reflectively,  but  without  comment. 

"IVe  been  watching  you  at  these  fool  meetings,"  said  he, 
falling  into  step  again. 

In  spite  of  myself  I  experienced  a  glow  of  gratification 
at  having  been  the  object  of  his  interest. 

"Fool  meetings?"  I  echoed  inquiringly. 

"Suppose,  by  a  miracle,  all  that  lot  could  agree,  and 
could  start  for  Cahfornia  to-morrow,  in  a  body  —  that's 
what  they  are  organized  for,  I  believe,"  he  countered  — 
"would  you  go  with  them?" 

"Why  not?" 

"Martin  is  why  not ;  and  Fowler  is  why  not ;  and  that  little 
Smith  runt,  and  six  or  eight  others.  They  are  weak  sisters. 
If  you  are  going  into  a  thing,  go  into  it  with  the  strong  men. 
I  wouldn't  go  with  that  crowd  to  a  snake  fight  if  it  was 
twelve  miles  away.     Where  do  you  live?" 

"West  Ninth  Street." 

"That's  not  far.    Have  you  a  good  big  room? " 

"I  have  a  very  small  hall  bedroom,"  I  replied 
wonderingly;  "a  number  of  us  have  the  whole  of  the  top 
floor." 


GOLD 

Somehow,  I  must  repeat,  this  unexplained  intrusion  of  a 
total  stranger  into  my  private  affairs  did  not  offend. 

"Then  you  must  have  a  big  sitting-room.  How  many 
of  you?" 

"Four." 

"Can  you  lick  all  the  others?" 

I  stopped  to  laugh.  By  some  shrewd  guess  he  had  hit 
on  our  chief  difficulty  as  a  community.  We  were  all  four 
country  boys  with  a  good  deal  of  residuary  energy  and  high 
spirits;  and  we  were  not  popular  with  the  tenants  under- 
neath. 

"You  see  I'm  pretty  big "  I  reminded  him. 

"Yes,  I  see  you  are.  That's  why  I'm  with  you.  Do  you 
think  you  can  lick  me?  " 

I  stopped  short  again,  in  surprise. 

"What  in  blazes "  I  began. 

He  laughed,  and  the  devils  in  his  eyes  danced  right  out 
to  the  surface  of  them. 

"I  asked  you  a  plain  question,"  he  said,  "and  I'd  like 
the  favour  of  a  plain  answer.  Do  you  think  you  can  lick 
me  as  well  as  your  rural  friends?" 

"I  can,"  said  I  shortly. 

He  ran  his  arm  through  mine  eagerly. 

"Come  on!"  he  cried,  "on  to  West  Ninth!" 

We  found  two  of  my  roommates  smoking  and  talking 
before  the  tiny  open  fire.  Talbot  Ward,  full  of  the  business 
in  hand,  rushed  directly  at  the  matter  once  the  introduc- 
tions were  over. 

Our  arrangements  were  very  simple;  the  chairs  were  few 
and  pushed  back  easily,  and  we  had  an  old  set  of  gloves. 

lO 


THE    HAMMERLOCK 

"Which  is  it  to  be?"  I  asked  my  guest,  "boxing  or 
wrestling?" 

"I  said  you  couldn't  lick  me,"  he  replied.  "Boxing  is  a 
game  with  rules;  it  isn't  fighting  at  all." 

"You  want  to  bite  and  gouge  and  scratch,  then?"  said  I, 
greatly  amused. 

"I  do  not;  they  would  not  be  fair;  a  fight's  a  fight;  but  a 
man  can  be  decent  with  it  all.  We'll  put  on  the  gloves ,  and 
we'll  hit  and  wrestle  both  —  in  fact,  we'll  fight." 

He  began  rapidly  to  strip. 

"Would  you  expect  to  get  off  your  clothes  in  a  real  fight?" 
I  asked  him  a  little  sardonically. 

"If  I  expected  to  fight,  yes!"  said  he.  "Why  not? 
Didn't  the  Greek  and  Roman  and  Hebrew  and  Hun  and 
every  other  good  old  fighter  *  strip  for  the  fray'  when  he  got 
a  chance?    Of  course !    Take  off  your  shirt,  man ! " 

I  began  also  to  strip  for  this  strange  contest  whose  rules 
seemed  to  be  made  up  from  a  judicious  selection  of  general 
principles  by  Talbot  Ward. 

My  opponent's  body  was  as  beautiful  as  his  head.  The 
smooth  white  skin  covered  long  muscles  that  rippled  be- 
neath it  with  every  slightest  motion.  The  chest  was  deep, 
the  waist  and  hips  narrow,  the  shoulders  well  rounded.  In 
contrast  my  own  big  prominent  muscles,  trained  by  heavy 
farm  work  of  my  early  youth,  seemed  to  move  slowly,  to 
knot  sluggishly  though  powerfully.  Nevertheless  I  judged 
at  a  glance  that  my  strength  could  not  but  prove  greater 
than  his.  In  a  boxing  match  his  Hthe  quickness  might 
win  —  provided  he  had  the  skill  to  direct  it.  But  in  a 
genuine  fight,  within  the  circumscribed  and  hampering 

II 


GOLD 

dimensions  of  our  Kttle  room,  I  thought  my  own  ratlier 
unusual  power  must  crush  him.  The  only  unknown  quan- 
tity was  the  spirit  or  gameness  of  us  two.  I  had  no  great 
doubt  of  my  own  determination  in  that  respect  —  I  had 
been  on  too  many  log-drives  to  fear  personal  encoimter. 
And  certainly  Talbot  Ward  seemed  to  show  nothing  but 
eager  interest. 

"You  don't  show  up  for  what  you  are  in  your  dlothes," 
said  he.  "This  is  going  to  be  more  fun  than  I  had 
thought." 

My  roommates  perched  on  the  table  and  the  mantelpiece 
out  of  the  way.     I  asked  the  length  of  the  rounds. 

"Rounds!"  echoed  Talbot  Ward  with  a  flash  of  teeth 
beneath  his  little  moustache.  '^Did  you  ever  hear  o£ 
rounds  in  a  real  fight?" 

With  the  words  he  sprang  forward  and  hit  me  twice. 
The  blows  started  at  the  very  toe  of  his  foot;  and  they  shook 
me  as  no  blows,  even  with  the  bare  fi^t,  have  ever  shaken 
me  before  or  since.  Completely  dazed,  I  struck  back,  but 
encountered  only  the  empty  air.  Four  or  five  times,  from 
somewhere,  these  pile-driver  fists  descended  upon  me. 
Being  now  prepared,  to  some  extent,  I  raised  my  elbows 
and  managed  to  defend  my  neck  and  jaws.  The  attack 
was  immediately  transferred  to  my  body,  but  I  stiffened 
my  muscles  thankfully  and  took  the  punishment.  My 
river  and  farm  work  had  so  hardened  me  there  that  I  believe 
I  could  have  taken  the  kick  of  a  mule  without  damage 
were  I  expecting  it. 

The  respite  enabled  my  brain  to  clear.  I  recovered 
slowly  from  the  effect  of  those  first  two  vicious  blows.    I 

12 


THE    HAMMERLOCK 

saw  Ward,  his  eyes  narrowed  calculatingly,  his  body  swing- 
ing forward  like  a  whalebone  spring,  delivering  his  attack 
with  nice  accuracy.  A  slow  anger  glowed  through  me. 
He  had  begun  without  the  least  warning:  had  caught  me 
absolutely  unaware.    I  hit  back. 

He  was  so  intent  on  his  own  assault,  so  certain  of  the 
blinding  effect  of  his  first  attack,  that  I  hit  him.  I  saw  his 
head  snap  back,  and  the  blood  come  from  his  lips.  The 
blows  were  weak,  for  I  was  still  dazed;  but  they  served, 
together  with  the  slow  bum  of  my  anger,  greatly  to  steady 
me.    We  were  once  more  on  equal  terms. 

For  perhaps  two  minutes  I  tried  to  exchange  with  him. 
He  was  in  and  out  like  hghtning;  he  landed  on  me  hard 
almost  every  time;  he  escaped  nine  out  of  ten  of  my  return 
counters.  Decidedly  I  was  getting  the  worst  of  this; 
though  my  heavier  body  took  punishment  better  than  his 
lighter  and  more  nervous  frame.  Then  suddenly  it 
occurred  to  me  that  I  was  playing  his  game  for  him.  As 
long  as  he  could  keep  away  from  me,  he  was  at  an  advan- 
tage.   My  best  chance  was  to  close. 

From  that  moment  I  took  the  aggressive,  and  was  in  con- 
sequence the  more  punished.  My  rushes  to  close  in  were 
skilfully  eluded;  and  they  generally  laid  me  wide  open. 
My  head  was  singing,  and  my  sight  uncertain;  though  I 
was  in  no  real  distress.  Ward  danced  away  and  slipped 
around  tense  as  a  panther. 

Then,  by  a  very  simple  ruse,  I  got  hold  of  him.  I  feinted 
at  rushing  him,  stopped  and  hit  instead,  and  then,  follow- 
ing closely  the  blow,  managed  to  seize  his  arm.  For  ten 
seconds  he  jerked  and  twisted  and  struggled  to  release 

n 


GOLD 

himself.  Then  suddenly  he  gave  that  up,  dove  forward, 
and  caught  me  in  a  grapevine. 

He  was  a  fairly  skilful  wrestler,  and  very  strong.  It 
was  as  though  he  were  made  of  whalebone  springs.  But 
never  yet  have  I  met  a  man  of  my  weight  who  possessed 
the  same  solid  strength;  and  Ward  would  tip  the  scales  at 
considerably  less.    I  broke  his  hold,  and  went  after  him. 

He  was  as  lively  as  an  exceedingly  slippery  fish.  Time 
after  time  he  all  but  wriggled  from  my  grasp;  and  time  after 
time  he  broke  my  hold  by  sheer  agility.  His  exertions 
must  have  been  to  him  something  terrible,  for  they  required 
every  ounce  of  his  strength  at  the  greatest  speed.  I  could, 
of  course,  take  it  much  easier,  and  every  instant  I  expected 
to  feel  him  weaken  beneath  my  hands;  but  apparently  he 
was  as  vigorous  as  ever.  He  was  in  excellent  training. 
At  last,  however,  I  managed  to  Jerk  him  whirling  past  me, 
to  throw  his  feet  from  under  him,  and  to  drop  him  beneath 
me.  As  he  fell  he  twisted,  and  by  a  sheer  fluke  I  caught  his 
wrist. 

Thus  through  no  great  skill  of  my  own  the  fortunes  of 
war  had  given  me  a  hammerlock  on  him.  Most  people 
know  what  that  is.  Any  one  else  can  find  out  by  placing 
his  forearm  across  the  small  of  his  back  and  then  getting 
somebody  else  to  press  upward  on  the  forearm.  The 
Greek  statue  of  ''The  Wrestlers"  illustrates  it.  As  the  pres- 
sure increases,  so  does  the  pain.  When  the  pain  becomes 
intense  enough,  the  wrestler  rolls  over  and  the  contest  is 
won.  Some  people  can  stand  it  longer  than  others;  but 
all  sooner  or  later  must  give  up.  In  fact,  skilled  wrestlers, 
knowing  that  otherwise  the  inevitable  end  is  a  broken  arm, 

14 


THE    HAMMERLOCK 

save  themselves  much  tribulation  by  immediately  conced- 
ing the  bout  once  this  deadly  hold  is  gained. 

I  began  to  force  Talbot  Ward's  hand  slowly  up  his 
back. 

Very  gently,  an  inch  at  a  time,  I  pressed.  He  said 
nothing.  Once  he  attempted  to  slip  sidewise;  but  finding 
me  of  course  fully  prepared  for  that,  he  instantly  ceased 
struggling.  After  I  had  pushed  the  hand  to  the  hurting 
point,  I  stopped. 

"WeU?"  said  L 

He  said  nothing. 

Now  I  was  young,  and  none  too  well  disciplined,  heated 
by  contest,  and  very  angry  at  having  been  so  unexpectedly 
attacked  at  the  beginning.  I  was  quite  willing  to  hurt  him 
a  little.  Slowly  and  steadily,  and,  I  am  ashamed  to  say, 
with  considerable  satisfaction,  I  pressed  the  arm  upward. 
The  pain  must  have  been  intense.  I  could  feel  the  man's 
body  quiver  between  my  knees,  and  saw  the  sweat  break  out 
afresh.  Still  he  made  no  sign,  but  dug  his  forehead  into 
the  floor.  "I  can  stand  this  as  long  as  you  can,"  said  I  to 
myself  grimly. 

But  at  last  I  reached  the  point  where  I  knew  that  another 
inch,  another  pound,  would  break  the  bone. 

"Do  you  give  up?"  I  demanded. 

"No!"  he  gasped  explosively. 

"I'll  break  your  arm!"  I  snarled  at  him 

He  made  no  reply. 

The  blood  was  running  into  my  eyes  from  a  small  scrape 
on  my  forehead.  It  was  nothing,  but  it  annoyed  me.  I 
was  bruised  and  heated  and  mad.   Every  bit  of  antagonism 

IS 


GOLD 

in  me  was  aroused.      As  far  as  I  was  concerned,  it  was 
a  very  real  fight. 

"All  right,"  I  growled,  "I'll  keep  you  there  then,  damn 
you!" 

Holding  the  arm  in  the  same  position,  I  settled  myself. 
The  pain  to  the  poor  chap  must  have  been  something  fear- 
ful, for  every  muscle  and  tendon  was  stretched  to  tlv 
cracking  point.  His  breath  came  and  went  in  sharp  hisses; 
but  he  gave  no  other  sign.  My  heat  cooled,  though,  as 
I  look  back  on  it,  far  too  slowly.  Suddenly  I  arose  and 
flung  him  from  me.  He  rolled  over  on  his  back,  and  lay, 
his  eyes  half  closed,  breathing  deeply.  We  must  have  been 
a  sweet  sight,  we  two  young  barbarians  —  myself  marked 
and  swollen  and  bloody,  he  with  one  eye  puffed,  and  pale 
as  death.  My  roommates,  absolutely  fascinated,  did  not 
stir. 

The  tableau  lasted  only  the  fraction  of  a  minute,  after 
all.  Then  abruptly  Talbot  Ward  sat  up.  He  grinned  up 
at  me  with  his  characteristic  momentary  flash  of  teeth. 

"I  told  you  you  couldn't  lick  me,"  said  he. 

I  stared  at  him  in  astonishment. 

"Licked?    Why,  I  had  you  cold! " 

"You  had  not." 

"I'd  have  broken  your  arm,  if  I  had  gone  any  farther." 

"Well,  why  didn't  you?" 

I  stared  into  his  eyes  blankly. 

"Would  you  have  done  it?"  I  asked,  in  a  sudden  flash  oi 
illumination. 

"Why,  of  course,"  said  he,  with  a  faint  contempt,  as  he 
arose. 

x6 


THE    HAMMERLOCK 

"Why  did  you  hit  me  at  first,  as  you  did?  You  gave  mc 
no  warning  whatever." 

"Do  you  get  any  warning  in  a  real  fight?" 

I  could  not  controvert  this;  and  yet  uneasily,  vaguely, 
I  felt  there  must  be  a  fallacy  somewhere.  I  had  been  told 
and  not  told,  what  should,  or  should  not,  be  done,  in  an 
affair  that  apparently  could  have  no  rules,  and  yet  had  dis- 
tinctions as  to  fair  and  unfair,  some  of  which  were  explained 
and  some  left  as  obvious.  I  felt  somewhat  confused.  But 
often  in  my  later  experience  with  Talbot  Ward  I  felt  just 
that  way,  so  in  retrospect  it  does  not  strike  me  so  forcibly 
as  it  did  at  that  time. 

"But  you're  a  wonder!  a  perfect  wonder!"  Ward  was 
saying. 

Then  we  all  became  aware  of  a  knocking  and  a  rattling 
at  the  door.    It  must  have  been  going  on  for  some  time. 

"If  you  don't  open,  I'll  get  the  police!  I  promise  you, 
I'll  get  the  police!"  the  voice  of  our  landlady  was  saying. 

We  looked  at  each  other  aghast. 

"I  suppose  we  must  have  been  making  a  little  noise," 
conceded  Talbot  Ward.  Noise !  It  must  have  sounded  as 
though  the  house  were  coming  down.  Our  ordinary  little 
boxing  matches  were  nothing  to  it. 

Ward  threw  his  military  cape  around  his  shoulders,  and 
sank  back  into  a  seat  beneath  the  window.  I  put  on  an 
overcoat.    One  of  the  boys  let  her  in. 

She  was  thoroughly  angry,  and  she  gave  us  all  notice  to 
go.  She  had  done  that  same  every  Saturday  night  for  a 
year;  but  we  had  always  wheedled  her  out  of  it.  This 
time,  however,  she  seemed  to  mean  business.    I  suppose 

17 


GOLD 

we  had  made  a  good  deal  of  a  riot.  When  the  fact  became 
evident,  I,  of  course,  shouldered  the  whole  responsibility. 
Thereupon  she  turned  on  me.  Unexpectedly  Talbot  Ward 
spoke  up  from  the  obscurity  of  his  comer.  His  clear  voice 
was  incisive,  but  so  courteous  with  the  cold  finality  of  the 
high-bred  aristocrat,  that  Mrs.  Simpkins  was  cut  short  in 
the  middle  of  a  sentence. 

"I  beg  you,  calm  yourself,  madam,"  said  he;  "it  is  not 
worth  heating  yourself  over:  for  the  annoyance,  such  as 
it  is,  will  soon  be  removed.  Mr.  Munroe  and  myself  are 
shortly  departing  together  for  California." 


x8 


CHAPTER  m 
THE  VOYAGE 

If  I  had  any  scruples  —  and  I  do  not  remember  many  — 
they  were  overcome  within  the  next  day  or  two.  It  was 
agreed  that  I  was  to  go  in  Ward's  employ,  he  to  pay  my 
passage  money  and  all  expenses,  I  to  give  him  half  the  gold 
I  might  pick  up.  This  seemed  to  me,  at  least,  an  eminently 
satisfactory  and  businesslike  arrangement.  Ward  bought 
the  outfits  for  both  of  us.  It  turned  out  that  he  was  a 
Mexican  war  veteran  —  hence  the  military  cape  —  and 
in  consequence  an  old  campaigner.  His  experience  and 
my  rural  upbringing  saved  us  from  most  of  the  ridiculous 
purchases  men  made  at  that  time.  We  had  stout  clothes 
and  boots,  a  waterproof  apiete,  picks  and  shovel,  blankets 
and  long  strips  of  canvas,  three  axes,  knives,  one  rifle,  a 
double  shotgun,  and  a  Colt's  revolver  apiece.  The  latter 
seemed  to  me  a  wonderful  weapon,  with  its  six  charges  in 
the  turning  cylinder;  but  I  had  no  opportunity  to  try  it. 

Ward  decided  instantly  for  the  Panama  route. 

"It's  the  most  expensive,  but  also  the  quickest,"  said  he; 
*a  sailing  ship  aroimd  the  Horn  takes  forever;  and  across 
the  plains  is  ditto.  Every  day  we' wait,  some  other  fellow 
16  landing  in  the  diggings." 

Nearly  every  evening  he  popped  into  our  boarding  house, 
where,  owing  to  the  imminence  of  my  departure,  I  had  been 


GOLD 

restored  to  favour.  I  never  did  find  out  where  he  lived. 
We  took  our  passage  at  the  steamship  office;  we  went  to 
the  variety  shows  and  sang  Oh y  Susannah!  with  the  rest; 
we  strutted  a  bit,  and  were  only  restrained  from  donning  our 
flannel  shirts  and  Colt's  revolving  pistols  in  the  streets  of 
New  York  by  a  little  remnant,  a  very  little  remnant,  of 
common  sense.  When  the  time  at  last  came,  we  boarded 
our  steamship,  and  hung  over  the  rail,  and  cheered  like 
crazy  things.  I  personally  felt  as  though  a  lid  had  been 
lifted  from  my  spirit,  and  that  a  rolling  cloud  of  enthusiasm 
was  at  last  allowed  to  puff  out  to  fill  my  heaven. 

In  two  days  we  were  both  over  being  seasick,  and  had 
a  chance  to  look  around  us.  Our  ship  was  a  sidewheel 
steamer  of  about  a  thousand  tons,  and  she  carried  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  passengers,  which  was  about  two  hundred 
more  than  her  regular  complement.  They  were  as  miscella- 
neous a  lot  as  mortal  eye  ever  fell  upon :  from  the  lank  Maine 
Yankee  to  the  tall,  sallow,  black-haired  man  from  Louisiana. 
I  suppose,  too,  all  grades  of  the  social  order  must  have  been 
represented;  but  in  our  youth  and  high  spirits  we  did  not  go 
into  details  of  that  sort.  Every  man,  with  the  exception  of 
a  dozen  or  so,  wore  a  red  shirt,  a  slouch  hat,  a  revolver  and 
a  bowie  knife;  and  most  of  us  had  started  to  grow  beards. 
Unless  one  scrutinized  closely  such  unimportant  details  as 
features,  ways  of  speech  or  manners,  one  could  not  place 
his  man's  former  status,  whether  as  lawyer,  physician  or 
roustabout.  And  we  were  too  busy  for  that.  I  never 
saw  such  a  busy  place  as  that  splattering  old  ship  slowly 
wallowing  her  way  south  toward  the  tropical  seas.  We  had 
fifty-eight  thousand  things  to  discuss,  beginning  with  Mar- 

20 


THE    VOYAGE 

shall's  first  discovery,  skipping  through  the  clouds  of 
rumours  of  all  sorts,  down  to  intimate  details  of  climate,  out- 
fit, prospects,  plans,  and  the  best  methods  of  getting  at  the 
gold.  And  to  all  these  subjects  we  brought  a  dozen  points 
of  view,  each  of  which  was  strange  to  all  the  others.  We 
had  with  us  men  from  every  stratum  of  society,  and  from 
€very  point  of  the  compass.  Each  was  a  product  of  his 
own  training  and  mental  upbringing,  and  was  incapable^ 
without  great  effort,  of  understanding  his  neighbour's  point 
of  view.  Communication  and  travel  were  in  those  days 
very  limited,  it  must  be  remembered,  and  different  com- 
munities and  sections  of  the  country  produced  strong  types. 
With  us  discussion  became  an  adventurous  exploration  into 
a  new  country;  the  man  from  Maine  could  not  but  be 
interested  in  finding  out  what  that  strange,  straight-haired, 
dark  creature  from  Carolina  might  think  of  even  the  most 
commonplace  subject.  Only  our  subjects  were  not  com- 
monplace. 

So  my  chief  impression  of  that  voyage  down  was  of 
knots  of  men  talking  hurriedly  and  excitedly,  as  though 
there  were  not  a  moment  to  waste;  and  the  hum  of  voices 
rising  and  falling  far  into  the  night. 

Only  two  things  were  capable  of  breaking  in  on  this  tense 
absorption  of  the  men  in  each  other  and  in  their  subject  — 
one  was  dolphins,  and  the  other  the  meal  gong.  When 
dolphins  appeared  each  rushed  promptly  to  the  side  of  the 
ship  and  discharged  his  revolver  at  the  beasts.  I  never 
■saw  any  harm  come  from  these  fusillades,  but  they  made 
a  wonderful  row.  Meal  times  always  caught  the  majority 
4inaware.    They  tumbled  and  jostled  down  the  companion- 


GOLD 

ways  only  to  find  the  wise  and  forethoughtful  had  preempted 
every  chair.  Whereupon,  with  most  ludicrous  expressions 
of  chagrin  or  of  assumed  nonchalance,  they  trooped  back 
to  meet  the  laughter  of  the  wise,  if  not  forethoughtful,  who 
had  realized  the  uselessness  of  the  rush.  After  a  moment's 
grumbling,  however,  the  discussions  were  resumed. 

There  was  some  quarrelling,  but  not  much.  A  holiday 
spirit  pervaded  the  lot;  for  they  were  men  cut  off  from  all 
experience,  all  accustomed  surroundings,  all  the  restraints 
of  training,  and  they  were  embarked  on  the  great  adven- 
ture. I  do  not  now  remember  many  of  them  individually. 
They  were  of  a  piece  with  the  thousands  we  were  destined 
to  encounter.  But  I  do  retain  a  most  vivid  mental  pic- 
ture of  them  collectively,  with  their  red  shirts,  their  slouch 
hats,  their  belts  full  of  weapons,  their  eyes  of  eagerness, 
their  souls  of  dreams;  brimming  with  pent  energy;  theoriz- 
ing, arguing,  disputing;  ready  at  an  instant's  notice  for 
any  sort  of  a  joke  or  excitement  that  would  relieve  the 
tension;  boisterous,  noisy,  laughing  loudly,  smothering  by 
sheer  weight  of  ridicule  individual  resentments  —  altogether 
a  wonderful  picture  of  the  youth  and  hope  and  energy  and 
high  spirits  of  the  time. 

Never  before  nor  since  have  I  looked  upon  such  a  variety 
of  equipment  as  strewed  the  decks  and  cabins  of  that  ship, 
A  great  majority  of  the  passengers  knew  nothing  whatever 
about  out-of-door  life,  and  less  than  nothing  as  to  the  con- 
ditions in  California  and  on  the  way.  Consequently  they 
had  bought  liberally  of  all  sorts  of  idiotic  patent  contrap- 
tions. India  rubber  played  a  prominent  part.  And  the 
deck  was  cumbered  with  at  least  forty  sorts  of  machines 

92 


THE    VOYAGE 

for  separating  gold  from  the  soil:  some  of  them  to  use 
water,  some  muscular  labour,  and  one  tremendous  affair 
with  wings  was  supposed  to  fan  away  everything  but  the 
gold.  Differing  in  everything  else,  they  were  alike  in  one 
thing:  they  had  all  been  devised  by  men  who  had  never 
seen  any  but  manufactured  gold.  I  may  add  that  I  never 
saw  a  machine  of  the  kind  actually  at  work  in  the  dig- 
gings. 

Just  now,  however,  I  looked  on  the  owners  of  these  con- 
traptions with  envy,  and  thought  ourselves  at  a  disad- 
vantage with  only  our  picks,  shovels,  and  axes. 

But  we  had  with  us  a  wonderful  book  that  went  far 
toward  cheering  up  the  poorly  equipped.  Several  copies 
had  been  brought  aboard,  so  we  all  had  a  chance  to  read 
it.  The  work  was  entitled  "Three  Weeks  in  the  Gold 
Mines,"  and  was  written  by  a  veracious  individual  who 
signed  himself  H.  I.  Simpson.  I  now  doubt  if  he  had 
ever  left  his  New  York  hall  bedroom,  though  at  the  time 
we  took  his  statements  for  plain  truth.  Simpson  could 
spare  only  ten  days  of  this  three  weeks  for  actual  mining. 
In  that  period,  with  no  other  implement  than  a  pocket 
knife,  he  picked  out  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  rest  of 
the  time  he  preferred  to  travel  about  and  see  the  country, 
picking  up  only  what  incidental  nuggets  he  came  across 
while  walking.    We  believed  this. 

As  we  drew  southward  the  days  became  insufferably 
warm,  but  the  nights  were  glorious.  Talbot  and  I  liked 
to  sleep  on  the  deck;  and  generally  camped  down  up  near 
the  bitts.  The  old  ship  rolled  frightfully,  for  she  was 
light  in  freight  in  order  to  accommodate  so  many  passen- 

2.t 


GOLD 

gers;  and  the  dark  blue  sea  appeared  to  swoop  up  and  dowa 
beneath  the  placid  tropic  moon. 

We  had  many  long,  quiet  talks  up  there;  but  in  them  all 
I  learned  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  of  my  companion. 

"If  you  had  broken  my  arm  that  time,  I  should  not  have 
taken  you,"  he  remarked  suddenly  one  evening. 

"Shouldn't  blame  you,"  said  I. 

"No!  I  wouldn't  have  wanted  that  kind  of  a  man,"  he 
continued,  "for  I  should  doubt  my  control  of  him.  But 
you  gave  up." 

This  nettled  me. 

"Would  you  have  had  me,  or  any  man,  brute  enough  to 
go  through  with  it?"  I  demanded. 

"Well "  —  he  hesitated  —  "it  was  agreed  that  it  was  to  be 
fight  J  you  remember.  And  after  all,  if  you  had  broken  my 
arm,  it  would  have  been  my  fault  and  not  yours." 

Two  young  fellows  used  occasionally  to  join  us  in  our 
swooping,  plunging  perch.  They  were  as  unlike  as  two  men 
could  be,  and  yet  already  they  had  become  firm  friends. 
One  was  a  slow,  lank,  ague-stricken  individual  from  some- 
where in  the  wilds  of  the  Great  Lakes,  his  face  lined  and 
brown  as  though  carved  from  hardwood,  his  speed  slow, 
his  eyes  steady  with  a  veiled  sardonic  humour.  His  com- 
panion was  scarcely  more  than  a  boy,  and  he  came,  I 
believe,  from  Virginia.  He  was  a  dark,  eager  youth,  with 
a  mop  of  black  shiny  hair  that  he  was  always  tossing  back, 
bright  glowing  eyes,  a  great  enthusiasm  of  manner,  and  an 
imagination  alert  to  catch  fire.  The  backwoodsman 
seemed  attracted  to  the  boy  by  this  very  quick  and  unso- 
phisticated bubbling  of  candid  youth;  while  the  boy  most 

H 


THE    VOYAGE 

evidently  worshipped  his  older  companion  as  a  symbol  of 
the  mysterious  frontier.  The  Northerner  was  named 
Rogers,  but  was  invariably  known  as  Yank.  The  South- 
erner had  some  such  name  as  Fairfax,  but  was  called 
Johnny,  and  later  in  California,  for  reasons  that  will  appear, 
Diamond  Jack.  Yank's  distinguishing  feature  was  a  long- 
barrelled  "pea  shooter"  rifle.  He  never  moved  ten  feet 
without  it. 

Johnny  usually  did  most  of  the  talking  when  we  were  all 
gathered  together.  Yank  and  I  did  the  Hstening  and  Tal- 
bot the  interpellating.  Johnny  swarmed  all  over  himself 
like  a  pickpocket,  and  showed  us  everything  he  had  in  the 
way  of  history,  manners,  training,  family,  pride,  naivete, 
expectations  and  hopes.  He  prided  himself  on  being  a  caln\, 
phlegmatic  individual,  unemotional  and  not  easily  excited, 
and  he  constantly  took  this  attitude.    It  was  a  lovely  joke. 

"Of  course,'^  said  he,  "it  won't  be  necessary  to  stay  out 
more  than  a  year.  They  tell  me  I  can  easily  make  eleven 
hundred  dollars  a  day;  but  you  know  I  am  not  easily 
moved  by  such  reports" —  he  was  at  the  time  moving 
under  a  high  pressure,  at  least  ten  knots  an  hour  —  "I 
shall  be  satisfied  with  three  hundred  a  day.  Allowing 
three  hundred  working  days  to  the  year,  that  gives  me 
about  ninety  thousand  dollars  -—  plenty!" 

"You'll  have  a  few  expenses,"  suggested  Talbot. 

"Oh  —  yes  —  well,  make  it  a  year  and  a  haK,  just  to  b« 
on  the  safe  side." 

Johnny  was  eagerly  anxious  to  know  everybody  on  thb 
ship,  with  the  exception  of  about  a  dozen  from  his  own 
South     As  far  as  I  could  see  they  did  not  in  the  slightest 

35 


GOLD 

degree  dififer  except  in  dress  from  any  of  the  other  thirty  or 
forty  from  that  section,  but  Johnny  distinguished  He 
stiffened  as  though  Yank's  gunbarrel  had  taken  the  plp-'t 
©f  his  spine  whenever  one  of  these  men  was  near;  and  he 
was  so  coldly  and  pointedly  courteous  that  I  would  have 
slapped  his  confounded  face  if  he  had  acted  so  to  me. 

*'Lookhere,  Johnny,"  I  said  to  him  one  day,  ^'what's 
the  matter  mth  those  fellows?  They  look  all  right  to  me. 
What  do  you  know  against  them?" 

^'I  never  laid  eyes  on  them  before  in  my  life,  sir,"  he 
replied,  stiffening  perceptibly. 

*'Take  that  kink  out  of  your  back,"  I  warned  him. 
'*That  won't  work  worth  a  cent  with  me!" 

He  laughed. 

*'I  beg  pardon.     They  are  not  gentlemen." 

"I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  gentlemen,"  said  I; 
"it's  a  wide  term.  But  lots  of  us  here  aren't  gentlemen  — 
far,  far  from  it.     But  you  seem  to  like  us." 

He  knit  his  brows. 

*'I  can't  explain.  They  are  the  class  of  cheap  politician 
that  brings  into  disrepute  the  chivalry  of  the  South,  sir." 

Talbot  and  I  burst  into  a  shout  of  laughter,  and  even 
Yank,  leaning  attentively  on  the  long  barrel  of  his  pea 
rifle,  grinned  faintly.  We  caught  Johnny  up  on  that 
word  —  and  he  was  game  enough  to  take  it  well.  When- 
ever something  particularly  had  happened  to  be  also 
Southern,  we  called  it  the  Chivalry.  The  word  caught 
hold;  so  that  later  it  came  to  be  applied  as  a  generic 
term  to  the  Southern  wing  of  venal  politicians  that  early 
tried  to  control  the  new  state  of  California.. 

26 


THE     VOYAGE 

I  must  confess  that  if  I  had  been  Johnny  I  should  have 
stepped  more  carefully  with  these  men.  They  were  a  dark, 
suave  lot,  and  dressed  well.  In  fact,  they  and  a  half 
dozen  obviously  professional  men  alone  in  all  that  ship 
wore  what  we  would  call  civilized  clothes.  I  do  not  know 
which  was  more  incongruous  —  our  own  red  shirts,  or  the 
top  hats,  flowing  skirts,  and  light  pantaloons  of  these 
quietly  courteous  gentlemen.  They  were  quite  as  well 
armed  as  ourselves,  however,  wearing  their  revolvers 
beneath  their  armpits,  or  carrying  short  double  pistols. 
They  treated  Johnny  with  an  ironically  exaggerated  cour- 
tesy, and  paid  little  attention  to  his  high  airs.  It  was 
obvious,  however,  that  he  was  making  enemies. 

Talbot  Ward  knew  everybody  aboard,  from  the  captain 
doFn.  His  laughing,  half -aloof  manner  was  very  taking; 
and  his  ironical  comments  on  the  various  points  of  dis- 
cussion, somehow,  conveyed  no  sting.  He  was  continually 
accepting  gifts  of  newspapers  —  of  which  there  were  a  half 
a  thousand  or  so  brought  aboard  —  with  every  appearance 
of  receiving  a  favour.  These  papers  he  carried  down  to 
our  tiny  box  of  a  room  and  added  to  his  bundle.  I  sup- 
posed at  the  time  he  was  doing  all  this  on  Moliere's 
principle,  that  one  gains  more  popularity  by  accepting  a 
favour  than  by  bestowing  one. 


n 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  Vn^LAGE  BY  THE  LAGOON 

In  the  early  morning  one  day  we  came  in  sight  of  a 
round  high  bluff  with  a  castle  atop,  and  a  low  shore  running 
away.    The  ship's  man  told  us  this  was  Chagres. 

This  news  caused  a  curious  disintegration  in  the  ship's: 
company.  We  had  heretofore  Hved  together  a  good- 
humoured  community.  Now  we  immediately  drew  apart 
into  small  suspicious  groups.  For  we  had  shortly  to  land 
ourselves  and  our  goods,  and  to  obtain  transportation 
across  the  Isthmus;  and  each  wanted  to  be  ahead  of  his 
neighbour. 

Here  the  owners  of  much  freight  found  themselves 
at  a  disadvantage.  I  began  to  envy  less  the  proprietors 
of  those  enormous  or  heavy  machines  for  the  separation 
of  gold.  Each  man  ran  about  on  the  deck  collecting 
busily  all  his  belongings  into  one  pile.  When  he  had 
done  that,  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  time  trying  to  extract 
definite  promises  from  the  harassed  ship's  officers  that 
he  should  go  ashore  in  the  first  boat. 

Talbot  and  I  sat  on  our  few  packages  and  enjoyed 
the  scene.  The  ship  came  to  anchor  and  the  sailors 
swung  the  boat  down  from  the  davits.  The  passen- 
gers crowded  around  in  a  dense,  clamouring  mob.  We 
arose,    shouldered    our    effects,    and    quietly    slipped 

28 


THE    VILLAGE    BY    THE    LAGOON 

around  to  the  corresponding  boat  on  the  other  side  the 
ship.  Sure  enough,  that  also  was  being  lowered.  So 
that  we  and  a  dozen  who  had  made  the  same  good  guess, 
were,  after  all,  the  first  to  land. 

The  town  proved  to  be  built  on  low  ground  in  a  bay 
the  other  side  the  castle  and  the  hill.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  I  had  never  travelled.  The  cane  houses 
or  huts,  with  their  high  peaked  roofs  thatched  with 
palm  leaves,  the  straight  palms  in  the  background 
against  the  sky,  the  morasses  all  about,  the  squawk 
and  flop  of  strange,  long-legged  marsh  birds,  the 
glare  of  light,  the  queer  looking  craft  beached  on 
the  mud,  and  the  dark-skinned,  white-clad  figures 
awaiting  us  —  all  these  struck  strongly  at  my  imagina- 
tion. 

We  beached  in  the  mud,  and  were  at  once  surrounded 
by  a  host  of  little,  brown,  clamorous  men.  Talbot  took 
charge,  and  began  to  shoot  back  Spanish  at  a  great  rate. 
Some  of  the  little  men  had  a  few  words  of  English. 
Our  goods  were  seized,  and  promptly  disappeared  in  a 
dozen  directions.  I  tried  to  prevent  this,  but  could 
only  collar  one  man  at  a  time.  All  the  Americans  were 
swearing  and  threatening  at  a  great  rate.  I  saw 
Johnny,  tearing  up  the  beach  after  a  fleet  native,  fall 
flat  and  full  length  in  the  mud,  to  the  vast  delight  of  all 
who  beheld. 

Finally  Talbot  ploughed  his  way  to  me. 

^'It's  all  settled,''  said  he.  *'I've  made  a  bargain 
with  my  friend  here  to  take  us  up  in  his  boat  to  Cruces 
for  fifteen  dollars  apiece  for  four  of  us. '' 

29 


GOLD 

**  Well,  if  you  need  two  more,  for  heaven's  sake  rescue 
Johnny, "  I  advised.     "  He'll  have  apoplexy. " 

We  hailed  Johnny  and  explained  matters.  Johnny 
was  somewhat  put  to  it  to  attain  his  desired  air  of 
imperturbable  calm. 

**  They've  got  every  blistered  thing  I  own,  and  made 
off  with  it!"  he  cried.  *Xonfound  it,  sir,  I'm  going  to 
shoot  every  saddle-coloured  hound  in  the  place  if  I  don't 
get  back  my  belongings!" 

*' They've  got  our  stuff,  too,"  I  added. 

"Well,  keep  calm,"  advised  Talbot.  ''I  don't  know 
the  game'  down  here,  but  it  strikes  me  they  can't  get 
very  far  through  these  swamps,  if  they  do  try  to  steal, 
and  I  don't  believe  they're  stealing  anyway;  the  whole 
performance  to  me  bears  a  strong  family  resemblance  to 
hotel  runners.     JlQie,  compadre!'^ 

He  talked  a  few  moments  with  his  boatman. 

''That's  right,"  he  told  us,  then.     ''Come  on!" 

We  walked  along  the  little  crescent  of  beach,  looking 
into  each  of  the  boats  in  the  long  row  drawn  up  on  the 
shore.  They  were  queer  craft,  dug  out  from  the 
trunks  of  trees,  with  small  decks  in  bow  and  stern,  and 
with  a  low  roof  of  palmetto  leaves  amidships.  By  the 
time  we  had  reached  the  end  of  the  row  we  had  collected 
all  our  effects.  Our  own  boatman  stowed  them  in  his 
craft. 

Thereupon,  our  minds  at  rest,  we  returned  to  the 
landing  to  enjoy  the  scene.  The  second  ship's  boat  had 
beached,  and  the  row  was  going  on,  worse  than  before. 
In  the  seething,  cursing,  shouting  mass  we  caught  sight 

30 


THE    VILLAGE    BY    THE    LAGOON 

of  Yank^s  tall  figure  leaning  imperturbably  on  his  rifle 
muzzle.     We  made  our  way  to  him. 

**  Got  your  boat  yet?"  Talbot  shouted  at  him. 

"Got  nothin'  yet  but  a  headache  in  the  ears,"  said 
Yank. 

"  Come  with  us  then.     Where's  your  plunder?" 

Yank  stooped  and  swung  to  his  shoulder  a  small 
bundle  tied  with  ropes. 

*^  She's  all  thar,"  said  he. 

These  matters  settled,  we  turned  with  considerable 
curiosity  to  the  little  village  itself.  It  was  all  exotic, 
strange.  Everything  was  different,  and  we  saw  it 
through  the  eyes  of  youth  and  romance  as  epitomizing 
the  storied  tropics. 

There  were  perhaps  a  couple  of  hundred  of  the  cane 
huts  arranged  roughly  along  streets  in  which  survived 
the  remains  of  crude  paving.  All  else  was  a  morass. 
Single  palm  trees  shot  up  straight,  to  burst  like  rocketp 
in  a  falling  star  of  fronds.  Men  and  women,  clad  in  a 
single  cotton  shift  reaching  to  the  knees,  loimged  in  the 
doorways  or  against  the  frail  walls,  smoking  cigars. 
Pot-bellied  children,  stark  naked,  played  everywhere, 
but  principally  in  the  mudholes  and  on  the  offal  dumps. 
Innumerable  small,  hairless  dogs  were  everywhere  about, 
a  great  curiosity  to  us, "who  had  never  even  heard  of  such 
things.  We  looked  into  some  of  the  interiors,  but  saw 
nothing  in  the  way  of  decent  furniture.  The  cooking 
appeared  to  be  done  between  two  stones.  A  grand 
tropical  smell  hung  low  in  the  air.  On  the  thresholds 
of  the  doors,  inside  the  houses,  in  the  middle  of  the 

31 


GOLD 

streets,  anywhere,  everywhere,  were  old  fish,  the  heads 
of  cattle,  drying  hides,  all  sorts  of  carrion,  most  of  it 
well  decomposed.  Back  of  the  town  was  a  low,  rank 
jungle  of  green,  and  a  stagnant  lake.  The  latter  had 
a  delicate  border  of  greasy  blue  mud. 

Johnny  and  I  wandered  about  completely  fascinated. 
Talbot  and  Yank  did  not  seem  so  impressed.  Finally 
Talbot  called  a  halt. 

''This  is  all  very  well;  if  you  kids  like  to  look  at 
yellow  fever,  blackjack,  and  corruption,  all  right," 
said  he.  ''But  we've  got  to  start  pretty  soon  after 
noon,  and  in  the  meantime  where  do  we  eat?" 

We  returned  through  the  town.  It  was  now  filled  to 
overflowing  with  our  compatriots.  They  surged  every- 
where, full  of  comment  and  curiosity.  The  half-naked 
men  and  women  with  the  cigars,  and  the  wholly  naked 
children  and  dogs,  seemed  not  in  the  least  disturbed 
nor  enlivened. 

Talbot's  earnest  inquiries  finally  got  us  to  the  Cres- 
cent Hotel.  It  was  a  hut  exactly  like  all  the  rest,  save 
that  it  had  a  floor.  From  its  name  I  suppose  it  must 
have  been  kept  by  a  white  man,  but  we  never  got  near 
enough  through  the  crowd  to  find  out.  Without  Talbot 
we  should  have  gone  hungry,  with  many  others,  but  he 
inquired  around  until  we  found  a  native  willing  to  feed 
us.  So  we  ate  on  an  upturned  hencoop  outside  a  native 
hut.     The  meal  consisted  of  pork,  bread,  and  water. 

We  strolled  to  the  beach  at  the  hour  appointed  with 
our  boatman.  He  was  not  there;  no;  any  other  boat- 
man. 

32 


THE    VILLAGE    BY    THE    LAGOON 

*' Never  mind,"  said  Ward;  "FU  know  him  if  I  see 
him.  I'll  go  look  him  up.  You  fellows  find  the  boat 
with  our  things  in  it. " 

He  and  I  reentered  the  village,  but  a  fifteen  minutes' 
search  failed  to  disclose  our  man.  Therefore  we 
returned  to  the  beach.  A  crowd  was  gathered  close 
about  some  common  centre  in  the  unmistakable  restless 
manner  of  men  about  a  dog  fight  or  some  other  kind  of 
a  row.     We  pushed  our  way  in. 

Johnny  and  Yank  were  backed  up  against  the  pal- 
metto awning  of  one  of  the  boats  in  an  attitude  of 
deadly  and  quiet  menace.  Not  two  yards  away  stood 
four  of  our  well-dressed  friends.  Nobody  as  yet  dis- 
played a  weapon,  except  that  Yank's  long  rifle  lay 
across  the  hollow  of  his  left  arm  instead  of  butt  to  earth; 
but  it  was  evident  that  lightnings  were  playing.  The 
boatman,  who  had  appeared,  alone  was  saying  anything, 
but  he  seemed  to  be  supplying  language  for  the  lot. 

Johnny's  tense,  alert  attitude  relaxed  a  little  when 
he  saw  us. 

''Well?"  inquired  Ward  easily.  ''What's  the 
trouble?" 

"Yank  and  I  found  our  goods  dumped  out  on  the 
beach,  and  others  in  their  place, "  said  Johnny. 

*'So  you  proceeded  to  reverse  matters?  How  about 
It?"  he  inquired  pleasantly  of  the  four  men. 

"I  know  nothing  about  it,"  replied  one  of  thera 
shortly.  "We  hired  this  boat,  and  we  intend  to  have 
it;  and  no  whipper-snapper  is  going  to  keep  us  from  it. " 

"I  see,"  said  Talbot  pleasantly.     "Well,  excuse  me 

33 


GOLD 

a  moment  while  I  talk  to  our  friend."  He  addressed 
the  man  in  Spanish,  and  received  short,  sullen  replies. 
*'He  says,"  Talbot  explained  to  us,  *Hhat  he  never  saw 
us  before  in  his  life,  and  never  agreed  to  take  us  up  the 
river." 

''Well,  that  settles  it,"  stated  the  other  man. 

*'How  much  did  you  offer  to  pay  him?"  asked 
Talbot. 

The  man  stared.  *'None  of  your  business,"  he 
replied. 

''They're  askin'  twenty  dollars  a  head,"  volunteered 
one  of  the  interested  spectators. 

"Exactly.  You  see,"  said  Talbot  to  us,  "we  got 
here  a  little  too  early.  Our  bargain  was  for  only 
fifteen  dollars;  and  now  this  worthy  citizen  has  made 
a  better  rate  for  himself. " 

"You  should  have  had  the  bargain  immediately 
registered  before  the  alcalde^  sefior,"  spoke  up  a 
white-dressed  Spaniard  of  the  better  class,  probably 
from  the  castle. 

"I  thank  you,  senor,"  said  Talbot  courteously. 
"That  neglect  is  due  to  my  ignorance  of  your  charming 
country. " 

"And  now  if  you'll  move,  young  turkey  cock,  we'll 
just  take  our  boat,"  said  another  of  the  claimants. 

"One  moment  I"  said  Talbot  Ward,  with  a  new  edge 
to  his  voice.  "This  is  my  boat,  not  yours;  my  baggage 
is  in  it,  my  boatman  is  on  the  ground.  That  he  is  for- 
getful has  nothing  to  do  with  the  merits  of  the  case. 
You  know  this  as  well  as  I  do.     Now  you  can  acknowl* 

34 


THE    VILLAGE    BY    THE    LAGOON 

edge  this  peacefully  and  get  out,  or  you  can  fight. 
I  don't  care  a  continental  red  copper  which.  Only 
I  warn  you,  the  first  man  who  makes  a  move  with  any- 
thing but  his  two  feet  will  be  shot  dead. " 

He  stood,  his  hands  hanging  idly  by  his  sides,  and  he 
spoke  very  quietly.  The  four  men  were  not  cowards, 
that  I'll  swear;  but  one  and  all  they  stared  into  Ward's 
eyes,  and  came  individually  to  the  same  conclusion. 
I  do  not  doubt  that  dancing  flicker  of  refraction  —  or 
of  devilment  —  was  very  near  the  surface. 

'*0f  course,  if  you  are  very  positive,  I  should  not 
dream  of  doubting  your  word  or  of  interfering,"  said 
the  tallest  and  quietest,  who  had  remained  in  the  back- 
ground.    *'  We  desire  to  do  injustice  to  no  man " 

Johnny,  behind  us,  snorted  loudly  and  derisively. 

''If  my  knowledge  of  Spanish  is  of  any  value  in 
assisting  you  to  a  boat,  pray  command  me,"  broke  in 
Ward. 

The  crowd  moved  off,  the  boatman  with  it.  I 
reached  out  and  collared  him. 

Talbot  had  turned  on  Johnny. 

''Fairfax,"  said  he  icily,  "one  of  the  first  things  you 
must  learn  is  not  to  stir  things  up  again  once  a  victory 
is  gained.  Those  men  were  sore;  and  you  took  the  best 
method  possible  of  bringing  on  a  real  fight." 

Poor  Johnny  flushed  to  the  roots  of  his  hair. 

"You're  right,"  said  he  in  a  stifled  voice. 

Talbot  Ward  thawed  completely,  and  a  most  win- 
ning smile  illumined  his  face. 

"Why,  that's  what  I  call  handsome,  Johnny!"  he 

35 


GOLD 

cried.  "It's  pretty  hard  to  admit  the  wrong.  You 
and  Yank  certainly  looked  bold  and  warlike  when  he 
came  along.  Where's  that  confounded  mozo?  Oh,  you 
have  him,  Frank.  Good  boy!  Come  here,  my  amiable 
citizen.  I  guess  you  understand  English  after  all,  or 
you  couldn't  have  bargained  so  shrewdly  with  our 
blackleg  friends. " 

The  flush  slowly  faded  from  Johnny's  face.  Yank's 
sole  contribution  to  the  changed  conditions  was  to  spit 
with  great  care,  and  to  shift  the  butt  of  his  rifle  to  the 
ground. 

*'Now,"  Talbot  was  admonishing  the  boatman, 
"that  was  very  bad.  When  you  make  a  bargain,  stick 
to  it.  But  I'll  tell  you  what  I  will  do.  I  will  ask  all 
people,  sale,  everywhere,  your  people,  my  people,  and 
if  everybody  pay  twenty  dollars,  then  we  pay  twenty 
dollars.  Sahe?  But  we  lio  pay  twenty  dollars  unless 
you  get  us  to  Cruces  poco  pronto^  sahe?  Now  we 
start." 

The  boatman  broke  into  a  torrent  of  talk. 

"Says  he's  got  to  find  his  assistant,"  Talbot  ex- 
plained to  us.  "  Come  on,  my  son,  I'll  just  go  with  you 
after  that  precious  assistant." 

We  sat  on  the  edge  of  our  boat  for  half  an  hour, 
watching  the  most  comical  scenes.  Everybody  was 
afflicted  with  the  same  complaint  —  absence  of  boat- 
men. Some  took  possession,  and  settled  themselves 
patiently  beneath  their  little  roofs.  Others  made 
forays  and  returned  dragging  protesting  natives  by  the 
arm.     These  generally  turned  out  to  be  the  wrong 

36 


THE    VILLAGE    BY    THE    LAGOON 

natives;  but  that  was  a  mere  detail.  Once  in  a  lucky 
while  the  full  boat's  complement  would  be  gathered; 
and  then  the  craft  would  pull  away  up  the  river  to  the 
tune  of  pistol  shots  and  vociferous  yells. 

At  the  end  of  the  period  mentioned  Talbot  and  the 
two  men  appeared.  They  were  quite  amicable;  indeed, 
friendly,  and  laughed  together  as  they  came.  The 
'* assistant"  proved  to  be  a  tremendous  negro,  nearly 
naked,  with  fine  big  muscles,  and  a  good-natured, 
grinning  face.  He  wore  large  brass  ear  circlets  and 
bracelets  of  copper.  We  all  pushed  the  canoe  to  the 
very  edge  of  the  water  and  clambered  aboard.  The 
negro  bent  his  mighty  shoulders.     We  were  afloat. 


37 


CHAPTER  V 
A  TROPICAL  RIVER 

Our  padrone,  as  Talbot  told  us  we  should  call  him, 
stood  in  front  clad  in  a  coloured  muslin  shirt.  The 
broad  sluggish  river  was  alive  with  boats,  all  making 
iheir  way  against  the  current.  By  the  time  the  lagoon 
had  narrowed,  however,  they  had  pretty  well  scattered. 

We  entered  a  tropical  forest,  and  never  shall  I  forget 
the  wonder  of  it.  The  banks  were  lined  to  the  water's 
edge  with  vegetation,  so  that  one  could  s<ee  nothing  but 
the  jungle.  There  were  great  palm  trees,  which  we 
recognized;  and  teak  trees,  which  we  did  not,  but  which 
Talbot  identified  for  us.  It  was  a  very  bald  sort  of 
tree,  as  I  remember  it.  Then  there  were  tremendous 
sycamores  in  which  were  ants'  nests  as  big  as  beehives; 
and  banana  trees  with  torn  leaves,  probably  the  most 
exotic  touch  of  all;  and  beautiful  noble  mangoes  like 
domes  of  a  green  cathedral;  and  various  sorts  of  canes 
and  shrubs  and  lilies  growing  among  them.  And 
everywhere  leaped  and  swung  the  vines  —  thick  ropy 
v^ines;  knotted  vines,  like  knotted  cable::  slender  fila- 
ment vines;  spraying  gossamer  vines,  with  gorgeous 
crimson,  purple,  and  yellow  blooms;  and  long  streamers 
that  dipped  to  trail  in  the  waters.  Below  them  were  broad 
pads  of  lotus  and  water  lilies ;  with  alligators  like  barnacled 

38 


A    TROPICAL    RIVER 

logs,  and  cormorants  swimming  about,  and  bright-eyed 
waterfowl.  The  shadows  in  the  forest  were  light  clear 
green,  and  the  shadows  under  the  hanging  jungle  near 
the  water  were  dull  green ;  and  the  very  upper  air  itself, 
in  that  hot  steaming  glade,  seemed  delicately  green,  too. 
Butterflies  were  among  the  vine  blossoms,  so  brilliant 
of  colour  that  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  flowers  were 
fluttering  from  their  stems.  Across  the  translucent 
green  shadows  flashed  birds.  I  recognized  Httle  green 
paroquets.  I  had  never  before  seen  them  outside  of 
cages.  No  man  can  realize  the  wonder  of  finding 
himself  actually  part  of  romantic  scenes  so  long  famil- 
iar in  the  pages  of  books  that  they  have  become  almost 
mythical.  We  sat  there  absolutely  silent,  save  when 
calling  attention  to  some  new  marvel,  drinking  it  in. 

Our  men  paddled  steadily  ahead.  The  negrr> 
hummed  strange  minor  songs  to  himself.  Suddenly  he 
flashed  his  teeth  at  us  and  broke  into  full  voice: 

"Oh,  Susannah!  don't  cry  for  me! 

r^i  off  to  California  wid  my  banjo  on  my  knee-*^ 

The  accent  was  queer,  but  the  words  and  tune  were 
right.     Talbot  questioned  him  in  Spanish. 

"He  says  all  Americans  sing  it.  He  has  taken  many 
up  the  river." 

"Too  many,"  muttered  Johnny.  "I  wish  we^^ 
started  lihree  months  sooner." 

It  was  growing  dusk  when  we  came  in  sight  of  a 
village  of  bamboo  huts  on  the  right  bank.  To  this  we 
headed.     Hardly  had  the  boat  struck  the  beach  when 

39 


GOLD 

both  of  our  men  leaped  ashore  and  raced  madly  toward 
the  huts.  Pausing  only  long  enough  to  slide  the  boat 
beyond  the  grip  of  the  river,  we  followed,  considerably 
mystified.  Quick  as  we  were,  we  found  both  the 
padrone  and  his  man,  together  with  a  dozen  others, 
already  seated  at  a  monte  table.  The  padrone  was 
acting  as  banker! 

We  discovered  the  name  of  this  place  to  be  Gatun. 
Talbot  found  us  a  native  hut  in  which  were  hammocks 
wx  could  rent  for  the  night.  The  hut  was  a  two- 
storied  affair,  with  a  notched  pole  by  which  to  clamber 
aloft.  I  took  one  look  and  decided  to  stay  below.  My 
weight  seemed  sufficient  to  bring  the  whole  thing  down 
about  our  ears. 

I  do  not  know  which  had  the  better  of  it.  My 
hammock  was  slung  across  one  corner  of  the  single 
room.  A  cooking  fire  blazed  merrily  five  or  six  feet 
away.  Some  ten  or  a  dozen  natives  were  drinking  and 
talking  until  nearly  morning;  and  to  my  personal 
knowledge  some  ten  or  a  dozen  thousand  fleas  were 
doing  the  same.  Six  dogs  were  that  hut's  allowance. 
They  discovered  that  my  weight  sagged  my  hammock 
down  to  a  height  just  suitable  for  the  rubbing  of  their 
backs.  In  vain  I  smote  with  boot  or  pistol  barre' 
They  kiyied  and  departed;  but  only  for  a  moment. 
I  had  not  even  time  to  fall  into  a  doze  before  one  of  the 
others  was  back  at  it.  This  amused  the  drinking 
natives.  I  suppose  the  poor  beasts  very  passionately 
wanted  to  scratch  their  backs.  I  could  sympathize 
with  them;  none  of  them  could  have  had  as  many  fleas 

40 


A    TROPICAL    RIVER 

as  I  had,  for  their  superficial  area  was  not  as  great;  but 
perhaps  they  had  as  many  per  square  inch. 

In  the  course  of  the  night  it  began  to  rain.  I  mean 
really  rain,  "without  going  into  details  as  to  drops,"  as 
somebody  has  said.  Then  I  ceased  envying  my  friends 
upstairs;  for  from  all  sounds  I  judged  the  roof  was  leaking. 

Next  morning  it  was  still  drizzling.  The  town  was  full  of 
sad-eyed,  wearied  men.  I  think  every  one  had  had  about 
the  same  experience.  The  padrone  was  at  first  a  little 
inclined  to  delay;  but  he  quickly  recognized  that  our  mood 
was  bad,  so  shortly  we  were  under  way. 

That  day  was  not  an  unmitigated  joy.  It  rained,  picking 
the  surface  of  the  river  up  in  little  spots  and  rings.  The 
forest  dripped  steadily.  All  the  butterflies  and  bright  birds 
had  disappeared;  and  sullen,  shifting  clouds  fairly  touched 
the  treetops.  It  was  cold.  Wrap  ourselves  as  we  would, 
we  became  thoroughly  chilled.  We  should  have  liked  to 
go  ashore  for  a  Httle  fire,  or  at  least  a  tramp  about;  but  there 
seemed  to  be  no  banks,  and  the  vegetation  would  not  let  us 
approach  whatever  earth  there  might  be.  The  padrone 
and  the  big  negro  thrust  their  heads  through  holes  cut  in 
the  middle  of  their  blankets,  and  seemed  happy.  Talbot 
Ward  and  Yank  took  it  with  the  philosophy  of  old  cam 
paigners;  but  Johnny  and  I  had  not  had  experience  enough 
to  realize  that  things  have  a  habit  of  coming  to  an  end. 
We  were  too  wet  even  to  smoke. 

That  night  we  spent  at  a  place  called  Pena  Blanca,  which 
differed  in  no  essential  from  Gatun.  We  slept  there  in 
small  sheds,  along  with  twenty  or  thirty  of  our  ship's  com- 
panions wedged  tightly  together.    A  dozen  other  similiar 

41 


GOLD 

sheds  adjoined.  We  were  all  quarrelsome  and  disinclined  to 
take  much  nonsense  either  from  the  natives  or  from  each 
other.  Also  we  needed  and  wanted  food;  and  we  had 
difficulty  in  getting  it.  A  dozen  incipient  quarrels  were 
extinguished  because  the  majority  of  the  crowd  would  not 
stand  for  being  bothered  by  the  row.  Finally  the  whole 
hutful  became  involved,  and  it  really  looked  for  a  moment 
like  a  riot.  A  good  deal  of  bad  language  flew  about,  and 
men  seized  their  weapons.  Yank  rose  to  the  occasion  by 
appealing  to  them  not  "to  kick  up  a  muss,"  because  there 
was  "  a  lady  of  our  own  colour  in  the  next  room, "  The  lady 
was  mythical,  but  the  riot  was  averted. 

The  next  day  was  clearing,  with  occasional  heavy  dashing 
showers,  just  to  keep  us  interested.  The  country  began 
more  to  open  up.  We  passed  many  grass  savannahs  dotted 
with  palms  and  a  tree  something  Kke  our  locust.  Herds 
of  cattle  fed  there.  The  river  narrowed  and  became  swifter. 
Often  our  men  had  to  lay  aside  their  paddles  in  favour  of  the 
pole  or  tracking  Hne.  Once  or  twice  we  landed  and  walked 
for  a  short  distance  along  the  banks.  At  one  place  we  saw 
several  wild  turkeys.  At  another  something  horrifying, 
rusthng,  and  reptihan  made  a  dash  fairly  from  between  my 
feet,  and  rushed  flop  into  the  water.  The  boys  claimed 
I  jumped  straight  upward  four  feet;  but  I  think  it  was 
nearer  ten.  Talbot  said  the  thing  was  an  iguana.  I  should 
like  very  much  to  be  able  to  describe  it  accurately,  but  my 
observation  was  somewhat  confused.  Beyond  the  evident 
fact  that  it  snorted  actual  fire,  I  am  not  prepared  to  go. 

Along  in  the  early  afternoon  we  reached  bolder  shores  in 
which  the  trap  rock  descended  sheer  beneath  the  surface  of 

42 


A    TROPICAL    RIVER 

the  water.  Directly  ahead  of  us  rose  a  mountain  like  a 
cone  of  verdure.  We  glided  around  the  base  of  it,  and  so 
came  to  Gorgona,  situated  on  a  high  bluff  beyond.  This 
we  had  decided  upon  as  the  end  of  our  river  journey.  To 
be  sure  we  had  bargained  for  Cruces,  six  miles  beyond;  but 
as  the  majority  of  our  ship's  companions  had  decided  on 
that  route,  we  thought  the  Gorgona  trail  might  be  less 
crowded.  So  we  beached  our  boat,  and  unloaded  our 
effects;  and  set  forth  to  find  accommodations  for  the 
present,  and  mules  for  the  immediate  future. 


43 


CHAPTER    VT 
THE  VILLAGE  IN  THE  JUNGLE 

At  first  there  seemed  slight  chance  of  getting  either. 
The  place  was  crowded  beyond  its  capacity.  The  Hotel 
Fran^aise  —  a  shed-and-tent  sort  of  combination  with  a 
muddy  natural  floor  —  was  jammed.  The  few  native  huts 
were  crowded.  Many  we  saw  making  themselves  as  com- 
fortable as  possible  amid  their  effects  out  in  the  open. 
Some  we  talked  with  said  they  had  been  there  for  over  a 
week,  unable  to  move  because  of  lack  of  transportation. 
They  reported  much  fever;  and  in  fact  we  saw  one  poor 
shaking  wretch,  wistful-eyed  as  a  sick  dog,  braced  against  a 
tree  all  alone.  The  spirit  was  drained  out  of  him;  and  all 
he  wanted  was  to  get  back. 

While  we  were  discussing  what  to  do  next,  our  muslin-clad 
ex-padronej  who  had  been  paid  and  shaken  by  the  hand 
some  time  since,  approached  smoking  a  longer  cigar  than 
ever.  This  he  waved  at  us  in  a  most  debonair  and  friendly 
manner. 

"Bread  on  the  water,"  commented  Talbot  after  a  short 
conversation.  "He  says  we  have  treated  him  like  a  brother 
and  a  true  comrade  in  arms;  which  means  that  /  did;  you 
fellows,  confoimd  your  spiteful  souls,  wanted  to  throw  him 
overboard  a  dozen  times.  And  now  he  says  to  follow  him^ 
and  he'll  get  us  a  place  to  stay. " 

44 


THE  VILLAGE  IN  THE  JUNGLE 

"Some  native  pig-sty  with  fleas, "  I  remarked  skeptically, 
aside,  to  Johnny. 

"You  comV'  begged  the  padrone ^  with  a  flash  of  teeth. 

We  came  bearing  our  household  goods,  because  we  could 
nowhere  see  any  one  to  bear  them  for  us.  At  that  we  had 
to  leave  the  heaviest  pieces  on  the  beach.  Talbot  insisted 
on  lugging  his  huge  bundle  of  newspapers. 

"They  may  come  in  handy,"  he  answered  us  vaguely. 
"Well,  they're  mine,  and  this  is  my  back,"  he  countered  to 
Johnny's  and  my  impatience  with  such  foolishness. 

The  padrone  led  us  through  town  to  the  outskirts. 
There  we  came  to  a  substantial  low  house  of  several  rooms, 
with  a  veranda  and  veritable  chimneys.  The  earth  in 
front  had  been  beaten  so  hard  that  even  the  downpour  of 
yesterday  had  not  appreciably  softened  it.  To  our  sum- 
mons appeared  a  very  suave  and  courteous  figure — that,  it 
appeared,  of  the  alcalde  of  the  place. 

"My  fren',"  explained  the  padrone  in  English,  for  our 
benefit,  "they  good  peepele.  They  wan'  estay.  Got  no 
place  estay. " 

The  alcalde,  a  portly  gentleman  with  side  whiskers  and  a 
great  deal  of  dignity,  bowed. 

"  My  house  is  all  yours, ','  said  he. 

Thus,  although  arriving  late,  we  stopped  at  the  best 
quarters  in  the  town.  The  sense  of  obligation  to  any  one 
but  our  boatman  was  considerably  relieved  when  next  day 
we  paid  what  we  owed  for  our  lodging.  Also,  had  it  not 
been  for  Talbot  and  Johnny,  I  am  sure  Yank  and  I  would 
have  taken  to  the  jungle.  There  seemed  to  be  required  so 
^uch  bowing,  smiling,  pimctiliousness  and  elaborate  com- 

4S 


GOLD 

pUmenting  that  in  a  short  time  I  felt  myself  in  the  precise 
mental  attitude  of  a  very  small  monkey  shaking  the  bars  of 
his  cage  with  all  four  hands  and  gibbering  in  the  face  of 
some  benign  and  infinitely  superior  professor.  I  fairly 
ached  behind  the  ears  trying  to  look  sufficiently  alert  and 
bland  and  intelligent.  Yank  sat  stoHd,  chewed  tobacco 
and  spat  out  of  the  window,  which  also  went  far  toward 
stampeding  me.  Talbot  and  Johnny,  however,  seemed 
right  at  home.  They  capped  the  old  gentleman's  most 
elaborate  and  involved  speeches,  they  talked  at  length  and 
pompously  about  nothing  at  all;  their  smiles  were  rare  and 
sad  and  Hngering  —  not  a  bit  like  my  imbecile  though 
well-meant  grinning  —  and  they  seemed  to  be  able  to 
stick  it  out  until  judgment  day.  Not  until  I  heard  their 
private  language  after  it  was  all  over  did  I  realize  they  were 
not  enjoying  the  occasion  thoroughly. 

Toward  sunset  occurred  a  welcome  break.  A  mob  of 
natives  suddenly  burst  into  view,  from  the  direction  of 
town.  They  were  running  madly,  led  by  a  very  little  man 
and  a  very  big  man.  The  two  latter  rushed  up  to  the  edge 
of  the  veranda,  on  which  we  were  all  sitting,  and  began  to 
talk  excitedly,  both  at  once. 

^'What's  the  row?"  we  asked  Talbot  in  a  breath. 

"  Can't  make  out  yet;  something  about  a  fight. " 

The  alcalde  commanded  order.  Then  the  matter  became 
clear.  The  very  large  man  and  the  very  little  man  had  had 
a  fight,  and  they  had  come  for  justice.  This  much  Talbot 
made  plain.     Then  he  chuckled  explosively. 

"The  little  man  is  making  his  accusation  against  him- 
self!" he  told  us.    "He  is  charging  himself  with  having 

46 


THE    VILLAGE    IN    THE    JUNGLE 

assaulted  and  beaten  the  other  fellow.  And  the  big  one  is 
charging  himseli  with  having  Hcked  the  Httle  one.  Neither 
wants  to  acknowledge  he  got  Hcked;  and  each  would  rather 
pay  a  fine  and  have  it  entered  on  the  records  that  he  won 
the  fight.     So  much  for  sheer  vanity ! " 

Each  had  his  desire.  The  alcalde,  with  beautiful  im- 
partiality, fined  them  both;  and  nonchalantly  pocketed  the 
proceeds. 

At  dusk  millions  of  fireflies  came  out,  the  earth  grew 
velvet  black,  and  the  soft,  tepid  air  breathed  up  from  the 
river.  Lights  of  the  town  flickered  like  larger  yellower 
fireflies  through  the  thin  screen  of  palms  and  jungle;  and  the 
various  noises,  subdued  by  distance,  mingled  with  the  voices 
of  thousands  of  insects,  and  a  strange  booming  from  the 
river.  I  thought  it  very  pleasant;  and  wanted  to  stay  out; 
but  for  some  reason  we  were  haled  within.  There  the 
lamps  made  the  low  broad  room  very  hot.  We  sat  on  real 
chairs  and  the  stilted  exchange  resumed.  I  have  often 
wondered  whether  our  host  enjoyed  it,  or  whether  he  did  it 
merely  from  duty,  and  was  as  heartily  bored  as  the  rest 
of  us. 

A  half-naked  servant  gHded  in  to  tell  us  that  we  were 
wanted  in  the  next  room.  We  found  there  our  good 
padrone  and  another,  a  fine  tall  man,  dressed  very  elabor- 
ately in  short  jacket  and  sHt  loose  trousers,  all  sewn  with 
many  silver  buttons  and  ornaments. 

"He  my  fren',"  explained  the  padrone.  "He  have  dose 
mulas. " 

With  the  gorgeous  individual  Talbot  concluded  a  bargain. 
He  was  to  furnish  us  riding  animals  at  ten  dollars  each  per 

47 


GOLD 

day;  and  agreed  to  transport  our  baggage  at  six  dollars  a 
hundredweight.  The  padrone  stood  aside,  smiling  cheer- 
fully. 

"  I  ver'  good  fren'?    Eh?  "  he  demanded. 

"My  son,"  said  Talbot  with  feeling,  "you're  a  gentleman 
and  a  scholar;  indeed,  I  would  go  farther  and  designate  you 
as  a  genuine  lallapaloozerl" 

The  padrone  seemed  much  gratified;  but  immediately 
demanded  five  dollars.  This  Talbot  gave  him.  Johnny 
thought  the  demand  went  far  toward  destroying  the  value 
of  the  padrone's  kindness:  but  the  rest  of  us  differed.  1 
beHeve  this  people,  lazy  and  dishonest  as  they  are,  are 
nevertheless  peculiarly  susceptible  to  kindness.  The  man 
had  started  by  trying  to  cheat  us  of  our  bargain;  he  ended 
by  going  out  of  his  way  to  help  us  along. 

At  supper,  which  was  served  very  shortly,  we  had  our 
first  glimpse  of  the  ladies  of  the  establishment.  The  older 
was  a  very  dignified,  placid,  rather  fat  individual,  whose 
chief  feature  was  her  shining  dark  hair.  She  bowed  to  us 
gravely,  said  a  few  words  in  Spanish,  and  thereafter  applied 
herself  with  childlike  and  unfeigned  zest  to  the  edibles. 
The  younger,  Mercedes  by  name,  was  a  very  sprightly 
damsel  indeed.  She  too  had  shining  black  hair,  over  which 
she  had  flung  the  most  coquettish  sort  of  lace  shawl  they 
call  a  rehosa.  Her  eyes  were  large,  dark,  and  expressive ;  and 
she  constantly  used  them  most  provocatively,  though  with 
every  appearance  of  shyness  and  modesty.  Her  figure,  too, 
was  lithe  and  rounded;  and  so  swathed,  rather  than  clothed, 
that  every  curve  was  emphasized.  I  suppose  this  effect 
was  the  resxilt  of  the  Spanish  mode  rather  than  of  individual 

48 


THE    VILLAGE    IN    THE    JUNGLE 

sophistication;  just  as  the  succession  of  lazy  poses  and 
bendings  were  the  result  of  a  racial  feminine  instinct  rather 
than  of  conscious  personal  coquetry.  Certainly  we  four 
red-shirted  tramps  were  poor  enough  game.  Nevertheless, 
whatever  the  motive,  the  effect  was  certainly  real  enough. 
She  was  alluring  rather  than  charming,  with  her  fan  and  her 
rebosa,  her  veiled  glances,  her  languorous,  bold  poses,  and 
the  single  red  flower  in  her  hair.  And  a  great  deal  of  this 
allurement  resided  in  the  very  fact  that  no  one  could  tell 
how  much  was  simple,  innocent,  and  unconscious  instinct, 
and  how  much  was  intended.  An  unpleasing  note  in  both 
women  was  furnished  by  the  powder.  This  so  liberally 
covered  their  faces  as  to  conceal  the  skin  beneath  a  dead 
mat  white. 

Yank  and  I  were  kept  out  of  it,  or  thought  we  were,  by 
our  ignorance  of  the  language.  This  did  not  se'^m  to  hinder 
Johnny  in  the  least.  In  five  minutes  he  was  obKvious  to 
everything  but  his  attempts  to  make  himself  agreeable  by 
signs  and  laughing  gestures,  and  to  his  trials  —  with  help  — 
at  the  unknown  language.  The  girl  played  up  to  him  well. 
Talbot  was  gravely  and  courteously  polite.  At  the  close 
of  the  meal  the  women  rose  suddenly,  bowed,  and  swept 
from  the  room.  Johnny  turned  back  to  us  a  good  dea? 
flushed  and  excited,  a  little  bewildered,  and  considerably 
disappointed.  The  alcalde  looked  as  though  nothing 
unusual  were  under  way.  The  rest  of  us  were  consider- 
ably amused. 

"You'll  see  her  later, "  soothed  Talbot  mockingly. 

Johnny  gulped  down  his  coffee  without  reply. 

After  the  meal  we  went  outside.    Fires  had  been  built  on 

49 


GOLD 

opposite  sides  of  the  hard  beaten  earth  in  front  of  the  house. 
Four  men  with  guitars  sat  chair  tilted,  backed  against  the 
veranda.  Thirty  or  forty  people  wandered  to  and  fro. 
They  were  of  the  usual  native  class;  our  host's  family,  and 
one  other,  consisting  of  parents  and  three  grown  children, 
seemed  to  represent  all  the  aristocracy.  These  better-class 
guests  came  to  join  us  on  the  veranda.  The  older  people 
did  not  greatly  differ  from  our  host  and  his  wife,  except  in 
cut  of  masculine  whisker,  or  amount  of  feminine  fat.  The 
younger  members  consisted  of  a  young  lady,  tall  and 
graceful,  a  young  girl  in  white,  and  a  man  of  twenty  or 
thereabout.  He  was  most  gaudily  gotten  up,  for  a  male 
creature,  in  a  soft  white  shirt,  a  short  braided  jacket  of  blue, 
a  wide,  red-tasselled  sash,  and  trousers  sHt  from  the  knees 
down.  The  entire  costume  was  sewn  at  all  places,  likely 
and  unlikely,  with  silver  buttons.  As  he  was  a  darkly 
>^.Rd3ome  chap,  with  a  small  moustache,  red  lips  and  a 
little  flash  of  teeth,  the  effect  was  quite  good,  but  I  couldn't 
care  for  his  style.  The  bulk  of  the  villagers  were  dressed 
in  white.  The  women  all  carried  the  rehosa,  and  were 
thickly  powdered.  We  could  see  a  number  of  the  Ameri- 
cans in  the  background. 

The  musicians  struck  up  a  strummy,  decided  sort  of 
marchhke  tune;  and  the  dancers  paired  off.  They  per- 
formed a  kind  of  lancer  figure,  very  stately  and  solemn^ 
seemingly  interminable,  with  scant  variation,  small  pro- 
gressions, and  mighty  little  interest  to  me.  We  sat  in  a 
stiff  row  and  shed  the  compliment  of  our  presence  on  the 
scene.  It  was  about  as  inspiring  as  a  visit  to  a  hospital 
ward.    What  determined  the  duration  of  the  affair,   I 

50 


THE    VILLAGE    IN    THE    JUNGLB 

cannot  tell  you;  whether  the  musicians'  fingers  gave  out,  or 
the  dancers'  legs,  or  the  official  audience's  patience.  But 
at  last  they  ceased. 

At  the  beginning  of  another  tune,  of  much  the  same 
solemn  character,  our  young  visitor  bowed  ceremoniously 
to  oiir  host's  daughter,  and  led  her  down  the  steps. 

"Come  on,  Johnny,  be  a  sport.  Dance  this  one,"  said 
Talbot  rising. 

"Don't  know  how,"  replied  Johnny  gloomily,  his  eyes 
on  the  receding  figure  of  Mercedes. 

^ '  The  lady  '11  show  you.     Come  along ! " 

Talbot  bowed  gravely  to  the  yoimg  girl,  who  arose  en- 
chanted. Johnny,  with  his  natural  grace  and  courtesy, 
offered  his  arm  to  the  other.  She  took  it  with  a  faintly 
aloof  and  indifferent  smile,  and  descended  the  step  with 
him.  She  did  not  look  toward  him,  nor  did  she  vouchsafe 
him  a  word.  Plainly,  she  was  not  interested,  but  stood 
idly  flirting  with  her  fan,  her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  distance. 
The  dance  began. 

It  was  another  of  the  same  general  character  as  the  first. 
The  couples  advanced  and  retreated,  swung  slowly  about 
each  other,  ducked  and  passed  beneath  each  other's  arms, 
all  to  the  stately  strumming  of  the  guitars.  They  kept  on 
doing  these  things.  Johnny  and  Talbot  soon  got  hold  of 
the  sequence  of  events,  and  did  them  too. 

At  first  Johnny  was  gloomy  and  distrait.  Then,  after 
he  had,  in  the  changes  of  the  dance,  passed  Mercedes  a  few 
times,  he  began  to  wake  up.  I  could  make  out  in  the 
firelight  only  the  shapes  of  their  figures  and  the  whiteness 
«*f  their  faces;  but  I  could  see  that  she  lingered  a  moment 

51 


GOLD 

in  Johnny's  formal  embrace,  that  she  flirted  against  him  in 
passing,  and  I  could  guess  that  her  eyes  were  on  duty. 
\VTien  they  returned  to  the  veranda,  Johnny  was  chipper, 
the  visitor  darkly  frowning,  Mercedes  animated,  and  the 
other  girl  still  faintly  and  aloofly  smiHng. 

The  fandango  went  on  for  an  hour;  and  the  rivalry 
between  Johnny  and  the  young  Spaniard  grew  in  intensity. 
Certainly  Mercedes  did  nothing  to  modify  it.  The  scene 
became  more  animated  and  more  interesting.  A  slow, 
ghding  waltz  was  danced,  and  several  posturing,  stamping 
dances  in  which  the  partners  advanced  and  receded  toward 
and  from  each  other,  bending  and  swaying  and  holding  aloft 
their  arms.  It  was  very  pretty  and  graceful  and  captivat- 
ing; and  to  my  unsophisticated  mind  a  trifle  suggestive; 
though  that  thought  was  probably  the  result  of  my  training 
and  the  novelty  of  the  sight.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
many  people  see  harm  in  our  round  dances  simply  because 
they  have  not  become  sufiiciently  accustomed  to  them  to 
realize  that  the  position  of  the  performers  is  meaninglessly 
conventional.  Similarily  the  various  rather  daring  pos- 
tures of  some  of  these  Spanish  dances  probably  have  be- 
come so  conventionalized  by  numberless  repetitions  along 
the  formal  requirements  of  the  dance  that  their  possible 
significance  has  been  long  since  forgotten.  The  apparently 
deKberate  luring  of  the  man  by  the  woman  exists  solely  in 
the  mind  of  some  such  alien  spectator  as  myself.  I  was 
philosophical  enough  to  say  these  things  to  myself;  but 
Johnny  was  not.  He  saw  Mercedes  languishing  into  the 
eyes  of  his  rival;  half  fleeing  provocatively,  her  glances 
sparkling;  bending  and  swaying  her  body  in  allurement; 

52 


THE    VILLAGE    IN    THE    JUNGLE 

finally  in  the  finale  of  the  dance,  melting  into  her  partner^s 
arms  as  though  in  surrender.  He  could  not  realize  that 
these  were  formal  and  estabhshed  measures  for  a  dance. 
He  was  too  blind  to  see  that  the  partners  separated  quite 
calmly  and  saimtered  nonchalantly  toward  the  veranda, 
the  man  rolling  a  paper  cigarro,  the  woman  flirting  idly  her 
fan.  His  eyes  glowing  dully,  he  stared  straight  before  him ; 
a  spot  of  colour  mounted  on  his  cheekbones. 

With  an  exclamation  Talbot  Ward  arose  swiftly  but 
quietly  and  moved  down  the  veranda,  motioning  me  to 
follow.    He  bent  over  Johnny's  chair. 

"I  want  to  speak  to  you  a  moment,"  he  said  in  a  low 
voice. 

Johnny  looked  up  at  him  a  moment  defiantly.  Talbot 
stood  above  him,  inflexibly  waiting.  With  a  muttered 
exclamation  Johnny  finally  arose  from  his  chair.  Ward 
grasped  his  arm  and  drew  him  through  the  wandering 
natives,  past  the  fringe  of  American  spectators,  and  down 
the  hard  moonlit  path  to  the  village. 

Johnny  jerked  his  arm  loose  and  stopped  short. 

"Well,  sir ! "  he  demanded,  his  head  high. 

"You  are  on  your  way  to  California,"  said  Ward,  "and 
you  are  stopping  here  over  one  night.  The  girl  is  pretty 
and  graceful  and  with  much  charm,  but  uneducated,  and 
quite  empty  headed. " 

"I  will  thank  you  to  leave  all  yoimg  ladies  out  of  this 
discussion, "  broke  in  Johnny  hotly. 

"This  yoimg  lady  is  the  whole  of  this  discussion  and 
cannot  be  left  out. " 

"Then  wc  will  abandon  the  discussion. " 

53 


GOLD 

*'Also,"  said  Talbot  Ward  irrelevantly,  ''did  you  notice 
how  fat  all  their  mothers  are?" 

We  were  wandering  forward  slowly.  Again  Johnny 
stopped. 

''I  must  tell  you,  sir,  that  I  consider  my  affairs  none  of 
your  business,  sir;  and  that  I  resent  any  interference  with 
them, "  said  he  with  heat. 

''AH  right,  Johnny,''  replied  Talbot  sadly;  "I  am  not 
going  to  try  to  advise  you.  Only  I  wanted  to  call  your 
attention  to  all  the  elements  of  the  situation,  which  you 
probably  had  forgotten.  I  will  repeat  —  and  then  I  am 
done  —  she  is  nothing  to  you,  she  is  beneath  you,  you 
are  stopping  here  but  one  day,  she  is  charming  but  igno- 
rant —  and  her  mother  is  very  fat.  Now  go  have  your  fool 
fight  —  for  that  is  what  you  are  headed  straight  for  —  if 
you  think  it  at  all  worth  while. " 

Johnny's  generous  heart  must  have  been  smiting  him 
sorely,  now  that  his  heat  and  excitement  had  had  time  to 
cool  a  little.  He  followed  us  a  few  steps  irresolutely.  We 
came  to  the  large  tree  by  the  wayside.  The  man  with  the 
fever  still  sat  there  miserably  indifferent  to  his  surroundings. 

"Here,  this  won't  do!"  cried  Talbot.  "He  mustn't  be 
allowed  to  sit  there  all  night;  he'll  catch  a  chill  sure.  My 
friend,  give  us  your  arm.  We'll  find  you  some  sort  of  a 
bunk." 

The  man  was  dead. 

We  carried  him  to  the  village  and  raised  a  number  of 
our  compatriots.  Not  one  knew  who  the  man  might  be, 
nor  even  where  his  belongings  had  been  stored.  He  had 
no  mark  of  identification  on  his  person.    After  a  diligent 

54 


THE    VILLAGE    IN    THE    JUNGLE 

search,  we  were  forced  to  give  it  up.  The  body  we  buried 
with  all  reverence  at  the  edge  of  the  jungle.  I  wanted  to 
place  the  matter  on  an  official  footing  by  notifying  the 
alcalde,  but  Talbot  negatived  this. 

"I  know  this  people,"  said  he.  "Once  let  the  news  of  a 
man's  death  get  abroad,  and  it's  good-bye  to  any  chance  of 
finding  his  effects  to-morrow.  And  that's  our  only  show 
to  identify  him.    Best  say  nothing. " 

We  returned  slowly  to  the  alcalde^s  house.  The  fan- 
dango was  still  in  progress.  Mercedes  flashed  her  bright 
eyes  at  Johnny  as  we  mounted  the  steps;  the  Spaniard 
scowled  and  muttered  an  imprecation.  Johnny  bowed 
gravely  and  passed  into  the  house. 

We  told  Yank  the  circumstances. 

"Poor  devil, "  said  I.  "Like  the  rest  of  us,  Le  was  so  full 
of  hope  so  short  time  ago. " 

Ward  nodded. 

"And  his  death  was  so  unnecessary,  so  utterly  and  com' 
pletely  useless. " 

"I  don't  know,"  spoke  up  Talbot  musingly.  "It  seems 
to  us  unnecessary,  but  who  can  tell?  And  useless?  1  don't 
know.  If  we  hadn't  happened  to  stiunble  on  that  poor 
chap  just  then,  Johnny  Fairfax  might  be  in  his  fix  right 
this  minute,  and  Johnny  Fairfax  seems  to  me  likely  to  prove 
a  very  valuable  citizen. " 

"And  what  did  the  blame  critter  mean  by  that?"  Yank 
asked  me  later. 


SS 


CHAPTER   VII 
THE  TRAIL 

We  made  desperate  efforts  next  morning  to  find  some- 
body who  knew  the  man,  or  at  least  could  point  out  to  us 
his  effects;  but  in  vain.  All  was  confusion,  and  everybody 
was  too  busy  getting  away  to  pay  us  very  much  attention. 
This,  I  am  convinced,  was  not  hardheartedness  on  the  part 
of  most;  but  merely  that  all  men's  minds  were  filled  with 
a  great  desire.  Our  own  transport  men  were  impatient  to 
be  off;  and  we  had  finally  to  abandon  the  matter.  Whether 
or  not  the  man  had  a  family  or  friends  who  would  never 
know  what  had  become  of  him,  we  shall  never  find  out. 
Later  in  the  gold  rush  there  were  many  scores  of  such  cases. 

Having  paid  the  alcalde  we  set  forth.  Mercedes  did  not 
appear.  Our  good  padrone  was  on  hand  to  say  farewell  to 
us  at  the  edge  of  town.  He  gave  us  a  sort  of  cup  made  from 
coconut  husk  to  which  long  cords  had  been  attached. 
With  these,  he  explained,  we  could  dip  up  water  without 
dismounting.     We  found  them  most  convenient. 

Shortly  after  we  had  left  town,  and  before  we  had  really 
begun  our  journey  in  earnest,  we  passed  a  most  astonishing 
caravan  going  the  other  way.  This  consisted  of  sixteen 
mules  and  donkeys  imder  sole  charge  of  three  men  armed 
with  antiquated  and  somewhat  rusty  muskets.  On  either 
side  of  each  mule,  slimg  in  a  rope  and  plain  to  see,  hung  a 

S6 


THE    TRAIL 

heavy  ingot  of  gold!  Fascinated,  we  approached  and 
stroked  the  satiny  beautiful  metal;  and  wondered  that,  on 
a  road  so  crowded  with  travellers  of  all  grades,  so  precious 
a  train  should  be  freely  entrusted  to  the  three  ragged  lazy 
natives.  So  curious  did  this  seem  that  Talbot  inquired  of 
the  leader  why  it  was  allowed. 

"Whither  would  a  thief  run  to?  How  could  he  carry 
away  these  heavy  ingots?  "  the  man  propounded. 

Often  aroimd  subsequent  campfires  we  have  in  idle, 
curiosity  attempted  to  answer  these  two  questions  success- 
fully, but  have  always  failed.    The  gold  was  safe. 

Talbot  insisted,  with  a  good  deal  of  heavy  argument,  that 
our  effects  should  precede  us  on  the  trail.  The  wisdom  of 
this  was  apparent  before  we  had  been  out  an  hour.  We 
came  upon  dozens  of  porters  resting  sprawled  out  by  the 
side  of  their  loads.  I  could  hardly  blame  them;  for  these 
men  carried  by  means  of  a  bamboo  screen  and  straps  across 
the  shoulders  and  forehead  the  most  enormous  loads.  But 
farther  on  we  passed  also  several  mule  trains,  for  whose 
stopping  there  could  be  no  reason  or  excuse  except  that 
their  natives  were  lazy.  Our  own  train  we  were  continually 
overtaking  and  prodding  on,  to  its  intense  disgust.  Thus 
Talbot's  forethought,  or  experience  with  people  of  this 
type,  assured  us  our  goods.  Some  of  our  shipmates  were 
still  waiting  for  their  baggage  when  we  sailed  to  the  north. 

We  now  entered  a  dense  forest  country.  The  lofty  trees, 
thick  foUage,  swinging  vines,  and  strange  big  leaves  im- 
doubtedly  would  have  impressed  us  under  other  conditions. 
But  just  now  we  were  too  busy.  The  rains  had  softened  the 
trail,  until  it  was  of  the  consistency  of  very  stiff  mud.    In 

17 


GOLD 

this  mud  the  first  mule  had  left  his  tracks.  The  next  mule 
trod  carefully  in  the  first  mule's  footsteps;  and  all  subse- 
quent mules  did  likewise.  The  consequence  was  a  succes- 
sion of  narrow,  deep  holes  in  the  clay,  into  which  an  animai's 
leg  sank  halfway  to  the  shoulder.  No  power  on  earth,  I 
firmly  believe,  could  have  induced  those  mules  to  step 
anyivhere  else.  Each  hole  was  full  of  muddy  water. 
When  the  mule  inserted  his  hoof  the  water  spurted  out 
violently,  as  though  from  a  squirt  gim.  As  a  result  we 
were,  I  believe,  the  most  muddied  and  bedraggled  crew  on 
earth.  We  tried  walking,  but  could  not  get  on  at  all. 
Occasionally  we  came  to  a  steep  little  ravine  down  and  up 
the  slippery  banks  of  which  we  slid  and  scrambled.  Yank 
and  his  mule  once  landed  in  a  heap,  plmnp  in  the  middle  of 
a  stream. 

In  the  course  of  these  tribulations  we  became  somewhat 
separated.  Johnny  and  I  found  ourselves  riding  along  in 
company,  and  much  too  busy  to  talk.  As  we  neared  a 
small  group  of  natives  under  a  tree,  three  of  them  started 
toward  us  on  a  run,  shouting  something.  We  stopped,  and 
drew  together. 

One  of  the  assailants  seized  Johnny's  animal  by  the  bit, 
and  another's  gesture  commanded  him  to  dismount. 

**Get  out  of  that!"  shouted  Johnny  threateningly;  and 
as  the  men  did  not  obey  his  emphatic  tone,  he  snatched  out 
his  Colt's  pistol.    I  closed  in  next  him  and  did  the  same. 

Our  threatening  attitude  caused  the  men  to  draw  back 
a  trifle;  but  they  redoubled  their  vociferations.  Johnny 
attempted  to  spur  his  mule  forward;  but  all  three  threw 
themselves  in  his  way.    The  rest  of  the  natives,  four  in 

58 


THE    TRAIL 

number,  joined  the  group.  They  pointed  at  Johnny's 
animal,  motioned  peremptorily  for  him,  to  descend;  and  one 
of  them  ventured  again  to  seize  his  bridle. 

"I  don't  believe  it's  robbery,  anyhow,"  said  I.  ^'They 
seem  to  recognize  your  mule.  Probably  you're  riding  a 
stolen  animal. " 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  that,"  said  Johnny,  a 
trifle  angrily,  "but  I  do  know  I  hired  it  to  go  to  Panama 
with:  and  to  Panama  I'm  going.  They  can  settle  their 
mule  question  afterward. " 

But  when  he  gathered  his  reins  again,  he  was  prevented 
from  going  on.  Johnny  reached  suddenly  forward  and 
struck  with  his  pistol  barrel  at  the  head  of  the  man  holding 
his  rein.  He  missed  by  the  fraction  of  an  inch;  and  the 
man  leaped  back  with  a  cry  of  rage.  Everybody  yelled 
and  drew  near  as  though  for  a  rush.  Johnny  and  I  cocked 
our  weapons. 

At  this  moment  we  heard  Talbot  Ward's  voice  from  be- 
yond. * '  Take  'em  from  that  side ! ' '  yelled  Johnny  excitedly. 
"Give  it  to  'em,Tal!" 

Talbot  shouted  again,  in  Spanish.  Every  brigand  in 
the  lot  immediately  turned  in  his  direction,  shouting  perfect 
fountains  of  words.  After  a  moment  Talbot,  afoot,  emerged 
from  the  jungle  and  calmly  picked  his  way  through  the  mud 
toward  us. 

"  Put  up  your  shooting  irons, "  he  grinned  at  us.  "  These 
men  tell  me  your  saddle  pad  is  on  crooked  and  they  want 
to  straighten  it  for  you. " 

Johnny,  and  I  am  sure  myself,  turned  red;  then  everybody 
howled  with  glee.    Johnny  dismounted,  and  a  dozen  eager 

59 


GOLD 

hands  adjusted  the  harness.    We  shook  hands  all  around, 
laughed  some  more,  and  resumed  our  very  sloppy  journey. 

This  to  me  was  one  of  the  most  terrible  days  I  ever  spent. 
We  passed  dozens  of  dead  mules,  and  vultures  that  sat  in 
trees;  and  exhausted  men  lying  flat  as  though  dead;  and 
sick  men  shaken  with  fever;  and  one  poor  wretch,  whom  we 
picked  up  and  took  with  us,  who  had  actually  lain  down  to 
die.  He  was  half  raving  with  fever,  and  as  near  as  we  could 
make  out  had  had  companions.  We  twisted  him  aboard  a 
mule,  and  took  turns  walking  alongside  and  holding  him  on. 
Beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  a  very  small  individual  with 
light  hair  and  an  English  accent,  we  could  tell  nothing 
about  him.  He  was  suffering  from  cholera,  although  we  did 
not  know  that  at  the  time.  That  night  we  spent  at  a  way- 
side hut,  where  we  left  our  patient. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  began  to  ascend  a  little;  and 
so  came  to  a  rocky  tableland  with  palms,  and  beyond  it 
another  ridge  of  hills.  We  climbed  that  ridge  and  descended 
the  other  side.  Another  elevation  lay  before  us.  This  we 
surmounted,  only  to  find  a  third.  After  we  had  put  a  dozen 
such  ranges  behind  us,  we  made  the  mistake  of  thinking  the 
next  was  sure  to  be  the  last.  We  got  up  our  hopes  a  number 
of  times  in  this  fashion,  then  fell  dully  into  a  despair  of  ever 
getting  anywhere.  The  day  was  fearfully  hot.  The 
Indian  who  had  stolidly  preceded  us  as  guide  at  last 
stopped,  washed  his  feet  carefully  in  a  wayside  mud  hole 
and  put  on  his  pantaloons. 

*'That  looks  to  me  like  an  encouraging  symptom," 
I  remarked. 

Shortly  after  we  entered  the  city  of  Panama. 

60 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PANAMA 

We  arrived  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  were  all  eyes; 
for  here  was  a  city  taken  directly  from  the  pages  of  the 
Boy's  Own  Pirate.  Without  the  least  effort  of  the  imagina- 
tion we  could  see  Morgan  or  Kidd  or  some  other  old  swash- 
buckler, cutlass  in  teeth,  pistols  in  hand,  broad  sashed, 
fierce  and  ruthless  rushing  over  the  walls  or  through  the 
streets,  while  the  cathedral  bells  clanged  wildly  and  women 
screamed.  Everything  about  it  was  of  the  past;  for  some- 
how the  modern  signs  of  American  invasion  seemed  tem- 
porary and  to  be  blown  away.  The  two-story  wooden 
houses  with  corridor  and  veranda  across  the  face  of  the 
second  story,  painted  in  bright  colours,  leaned  crazily  out 
across  the  streets  toward  each  other.  Narrow  and  mys- 
terious alleys  led  up  between  them.  Ancient  cathedrals 
and  churches  stood  gray  with  age  before  grass-grown  plazas. 
And  in  the  outskirts  of  town  were  massive  masonry  ruins  of 
great  buildings,  convent  and  colleges,  some  of  which  had 
never  been  finished.  The  immense  blocks  lay  about  the 
ground  in  a  confusion,  covered  softly  by  thousands  of  little 
plants;  or  soared  against  the  sky  in  broken  arches  and 
corridors.  Vegetation  and  vines  grew  in  every  crevice;  and 
I  saw  many  full-sized  trees  rooted  in  midair.  The  place 
was  strongly  fanciful;  and  I  loved  to  linger  there.     To  me 

6i 


GOLD 

the  jimgle  seemed  like  an  insidiously  beautiful  creature 
enveloping  thus,  Kttle  by  little,  its  unsuspecting  prey.  The 
old  gray  tumbled  ruins  seemed  to  be  lost  in  dreams  of  their 
ancient  days.  And  through  the  arches  and  the  empty 
corridors  open  to  the  sky  breathed  a  melancholy  air  from  a 
past  so  dead  and  gone  and  buried  and  forgotten  that  of  it 
remained  no  echo,  no  recollection,  no  knowledge,  nothing 
but  squared  and  timibled  stones. 

To  tell  the  truth  I  generally  had  these  reflections  quite  to 
myself.  The  body  of  the  town  was  much  more  exciting. 
The  old  dilapidated  and  picturesque  houses  had  taken  on  a 
nevj  and  temporary  smartness  of  modernity  —  consisting 
mainly  of  canvas  signs.  The  main  street  was  of  hotels, 
eating  houses,  and  assorted  hells.  It  was  crowded  day  and 
night,  for  we  found  something  over  a  thousand  men  here 
awaiting  the  chance  of  transportation.  Some  had  been 
here  a  long  time,  and  were  broke  and  desperate.  A  number 
of  American  gambling  joints  did  a  good  business.  Native 
drinking  houses  abounded.  The  natives  were  in  general  a 
showy  lot,  but  too  lazy  even  to  do  a  good  job  at  fleecing  the 
stranger  within  their  gates.  That  was  therefore  under- 
taken—  and  most  competently  —  by  the  enterprising 
foreigners  of  all  nations.  Foreigners  kept  two  of  the  three 
hotels,  as  is  indicated  by  their  names  —  Hotel  Frangaise, 
Fonda  Americano,  and  the  Washington  House.  Americans 
ran  the  gambling  joints.  French  and  Germans,  mainly, 
kept  the  restaurants. 

We  stopped  over  one  day  at  the  Fonda  Americano;  and 
then  realizing  that  we  were  probably  in  for  a  long  wait, 
foimd  two  rooms  in  a  house  off  the  main  street.    These  we 

62 


PANAMA 

rented  from  a  native  at  a  fairly  reasonable  rate.  They 
were  in  the  second  story  of  a  massive  stone  ruin  whose 
walls  had  been  patched  up  with  whitewash.  The  rooms 
were  bare  and  geometrically  cat-a-cornered  and  extra- 
ordinarily chilly,  like  vaults;  but  they  gave  out  on  a  charm- 
ingly imkempt  walled  garden  with  a  stone  fountain  in  the 
middle  whose  features  were  all  rounded  by  time  and  blurred 
with  moss,  with  tall  ragged  bananas  and  taller  wind-swept 
palms,  and  a  creeping  lush  tangle  of  old  plants,  and  the  damp 
soft  greenness  of  moss  and  the  elfin  tinkling  of  little  waters. 
On  our  balcony  the  sun  shone  strong;  so  that  we  could 
warm  our  chilled  bones  gratefully  like  lizards  against  a  wall. 

We  tried  all  the  restaurants,  one  after  the  other,  and 
found  them  about  equally  bad.  We  also  went  in  —  once  — 
for  a  real  Spanish  dinner.  It  consisted  of  a  succession  of 
dishes  highly  seasoned  with  the  hottest  sort  of  pepper, 
generally  drowned  in  rich  gravy,  and  composed  of  such 
things  as  cheese,  chunks  of  meat,  corn  meal,  and  the  like. 
Any  one  of  these  dishes  would  have  been  a  fine  strength  test 
for  the  average  unsophisticated  stomach;  but  your  true 
Spanish  dinner  consists  of  a  dozen  of  them.  We  had 
horrible  indigestion. 

In  one  place,  kept  by  a  (xerman,  we  were  treated  very 
disagreeably,  and  overcharged  so  badly  that  Yank  vowed 
he  intended  to  get  even.  As  to  just  how  he  was  going  to 
do  it,  he  maintained  a  deep  silence;  but  he  advised  us  he 
wouid  eat  there  the  following  evening.  Also  he  asked  four 
or  five  other  men,  with  whom  we  had  become  friendly,  to 
meet  us  at  the  restaurant.  We  met,  ate  our  meal  leisurely, 
and  had  a  very  good  time. 

63 


GOLD 

"Now,"  said  Yank  to  us,  "when  we  get  up,  you  fellows 
all  go  right  out  the  front  door  and  keep  going  until  you  get 
to  the  Fonda  bar,  and  there  you  wait  for  me.  No  linger- 
ing, now.    Do  as  you  are  told. " 

We  did  as  we  were  told.  After  about  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  Yank  sauntered  in. 

"Now,"  said  Johnny,  "I  hope  you'U  explain.  We're 
much  obliged  for  your  dinner  party,  but  we  want  to  know 
what  it  is  all  about. " 

"WeU,"  chuckled  Yank,  "I  just  dealt  the  Dutchman 
what  you  might  call  idle  persiflage  until  you  fellows  had 
been  gone  a  few  minutes,  and  then  I  held  him  out  my  dol- 
lar. *  What's  that?'  says  he.  'That's  a  dollar,'  says  I,  'to 
pay  for  my  dinner.'  'How  about  aU  those  other  fellows?' 
says  he.  'I  got  nothing  to  do  with  them,'  says  I.  'They 
can  pay  for  their  own  dinners,'  and  after  a  while  I  come 
away.  He  was  having  some  sort  of  Dutch  fit,  and  I  got 
tired  of  watching  him. " 

Outside  the  walls  of  the  dty  was  a  large  encampment  of 
tents  in  which  dwelt  the  more  impecunious  or  more  econom- 
ical of  the  miners.  Here  too  had  been  located  a  large  hos- 
pital tent.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  sickness,  due  to  the 
hardships  of  the  journey,  the  bad  climate,  irregular  living, 
the  overeating  of  fruit,  drinking,  the  total  lack  of  sanitation. 
In  fact  only  the  situation  of  the  dty  —  out  on  an  isthmus 
in  the  sea  breezes  —  I  am  convinced,  saved  us  from  pesti- 
lence. Every  American  seemed  to  possess  a  patent  n^r-di- 
dne  of  some  sort  with  which  he  dosed  himself  religiously  in 
and  out  of  season.  A  good  many,  I  should  think,  must  have 
fallen  victims  to  these  nostrums. 

64 


PANAMA 

Each  morning  regularly  we  went  down  to  harass  the 
steamship  employees.  Roughly  speaking  some  three  hun- 
dred of  us  had  bought  through  passage  before  leaving 
New  York:  and  it  was  announced  that  only  fifty-two  addi- 
tional to  those  already  aboard  could  be  squeezed  into  the 
first  steamer.  The  other  two  himdred  and  forty-eight 
would  have  to  await  the  next.  Naturally  every  man  was 
determined  that  he  would  not  be  left;  for  such  a  delay,  in 
such  a  place,  at  the  time  of  a  gold  rush  was  unthinkable. 
The  officials  at  that  steamship  office  had  no  easy  time. 
Each  man  wanted  first  of  all  to  know  just  when  the  ship 
was  to  be  expected;  a  thing  no  one  could  guess.  Then  he 
demanded  his  accommodations;  and  had  a  dozen  reasons 
why  his  claim  should  be  preferred  over  that  of  the  others. 
I  never  saw  a  more  quarrelsome  noisy  dog-kennel  than  that 
steamship  office.  Why  no  one  was  ever  shot  there  I  could 
not  tell  you. 

After  bedevilling  the  officials  for  a  time,  our  business  for 
the  day  was  over.  We  had  the  privilege  of  sauntering 
through  the  streets,  of  walking  down  the  peninsula  or  of 
seating  ourselves  in  any  of  the  numerous  bars  or  gamblin^^ 
halls.  All  were  interesting;  though  neither  the  streets  nor 
the  gambling  places  were  in  full  action  until  late  afternoon. 

About  four  o'clock,  or  half  after,  when  the  invariable 
siesta  was  over,  the  main  street  began  to  fill  with  idlers. 
The  natives  wore  white,  with  wide  soft  straw  hats,|Lnd 
lounged  along  with  considerable  grace.  They  were  a  weak, 
unenergetic,  inoffensive  race,  always  ready  to  get  off  the 
sidewalk  for  other  nations  provided  the  other  nations 
swaggered  sufficiently.    The  women,   I  remember,   had 

65 


GOLD 

wonderful  piles  of  glossy  black  hair,  arranged  in  bands  and 
puffs,  in  which  they  stuck  cigars.  The  streets  were  very 
narrow.  When  a  vehicle  came  along,  we  all  had  to  make 
way  for  it;  as  also  for  the  gangs  of  prisoners  connected  with 
heavy  iron  chains  aroimd  their  necks.  These  were  very 
numerous;  and  I  can  hear  yet  as  the  leading  notes  of  the 
place,  the  clinking  of  their  chains,  and  the  cracked  jangling 
of  some  of  the  many  cathedral  bells. 

There  was  a  never-failing  joy  to  us  also  in  poking  around 
the  odd  places  of  the  town.  The  dim  interiors  of  cathedrals, 
the  splashed  stones  of  courtyards,  the  shadows  of  doorways, 
the  privacies  of  gardens  all  lured  us;  and  we  saw  many 
phases  of  native  life.  Generally  we  were  looked  on  at  first 
with  distrust.  There  were  a  niunber  of  roughs  among  the 
gold  seekers;  men  whose  brutal  instincts  or  whose  merely 
ignorant  love  of  horseplay  had  now  for  the  first  time  no 
check.  They  found  that  the  native  could  be  pushed  off  the 
sidewalk,  so  they  pushed  him  off.  I  once  saw  a  number  of 
these  men  light  their  cigars  at  altar  candles.  But  Talbot's 
Spanish  and  our  own  demeanour  soon  gained  us  admission. 

Thus  we  ran  across  a  most  delightful  institution.  We 
were  rambling  in  a  very  obscure  portion  of  town  when  we 
came  to  quite  a  long  wall  imbroken  save  by  a  little  wicket 
gate.  A  bell  pull  seemed  to  invite  investigation;  so  we 
gave  it  a  heave.  Almost  immediately  the  gate  swung  open 
and  we  entered. 

We  f oimd  ourselves  in  a  wide  space  paved  with  smooth 
great  slabs  of  rocks,  wet  as  though  from  a  recent  rain.  The 
space  was  thickly  built  up  by  small  round  huts  of  reeds,  but 
without  roofs.    In  the  centre  was  a  well,  probably  ten  or 

66 


PANAMA 

twelve  feet  wide,  over  which  slanted  a  cross  arm  and  whed 
for  the  drawing  of  water.  No  human  being  was  in  sight; 
the  gate  had  been  imlatched  by  an  overhead  cord. 

We  shouted.  In  a  minute  or  so  a  very  irascible  old 
woman  hobbled  to  us  from  some  mysterious  lurking  place 
among  the  reed  huts.  She  spoke  impatiently.  Talbot 
questioned  her;  she  replied  briefly,  then  turned  and  hobbled 
off  as  fast  as  she  could  go. 

"What  did  she  say?"  some  one  asked  Talbot  curiously. 

"She  said,"  repHed  Ward,  "HteraUy  this:  'Why  don't 
you  take  any  of  them  without  bothering  me?  They  are  all 
ready.'  I  imagine  she  must  mean  these  bird  cages;  though 
what  they  are  for  I  couldn't  tell  you. " 

We  investigated  the  nearest.  It  was  divided  into  two 
tiny  rooms  each  just  big  enough  to  hold  a  man.  In  one 
was  a  three  legged  stool;  in  the  other  stood  two  tall  graceful 
jars  of  red  clay,  their  sides  bedewed  with  evaporation. 
A  dipper  made  from  a  coconut  lay  across  the  top  of  one 
of  them. 

"Bath  house!"  shouted  Johnny,  enchanted. 

The  water  in  the  porous  earthen  jars  was  cold.  We  took 
each  a  hut  and  poured  the  icy  stuff  over  us  to  our  heart's 
content.  All  except  Yank.  He  looked  on  the  proceedings 
we  thought  with  some  scorn;  and  departed  carrying  his 
long  rifle. 

"Hey!"  shouted  Johnny  finally,  "where's  the  towels?" 

To  this  inquiry  we  could  find  no  substantial  answer. 
There  were  no  towels.  The  old  woman  declined  to  come 
to  our  yells.  She  was  on  hand,  however,  when  we  were 
ready  to  depart,  and  took  one  American  dime  as  payment 

67 


GOLD 

for  the  three  of  us.  This  was  the  only  cheap  thing  we 
found  in  Panama.  We  came  every  day,  after  the  hour  of 
siesta  —  with  towels.  Yank  refused  steadfastly  to  in- 
dulge. 

'*  I'm  having  hard  enough  dodging  to  keep  clear  of  fever 'n 
ager  now, "  he  told  us.  "You  don't  seem  to  recollect  what 
neck  of  the  woods  I  come  from.  It's  a  fever'n  ager  country 
out  there  for  keeps.    They  can't  keep  chickens  there  at  all." 

"Why  not?"  asked  Johnny  innocently. 

"The  chills  they  get  shakes  all  the  feathers  off'n  'em," 
replied  Yank,  "and  then  Hiey  freeze  to  death. " 

In  the  evening  the  main  street  was  a  blaze  of  light,  and 
the  by-ways  were  cast  in  darkness.  The  crowd  was  all 
afoot,  and  moved  restlessly  to  and  fro  from  one  bar  or 
gambhng  hell  to  another.  Of  the  thousand  or  so  of  stran- 
gers we  came  in  time  to  recognize  by  sight  a  great  many. 
The  journey  home  through  the  dark  was  perilous.  We 
never  attempted  it  except  in  company;  and  as  Johnny 
seemed  fascinated  with  a  certain  game  called  Mexican 
monte,  we  often  had  to  endure  long  waits  before  all  our 
party  was  assembled. 

One  morning  our  daily  trip  to  the  steamship  oflEice  bore 
fruit.  We  found  the  plaza  filled  with  excited  men;  all 
talking  and  gesticulating.  The  much  tired  officials  had 
evolved  a  scheme,  beautiful  in  its  simplicity,  for  deciding 
which  fifty-two  of  the  three  hundred  should  go  by  the  first 
ship.  They  announced  that  at  eleven  oclock  they  would 
draw  lots. 

This  was  all  very  well,  but  how  did  the  general  public 
know  that  the  lots  would  be  drawn  fairly? 

68 


PANAMA 

The  officials  would  permit  a  committee  of  citizens  to 
be  present. 

Not  by  the  eternal!  Where  would  you  get  any  one  to 
serve?  No  member  of  that  committee  would  dare  accept 
his  own  ticket,  provided  he  drew  one.  No  one  would 
believe  it  had  been  done  honestly. 

Very  well.  Then  let  fifty-two  out  of  three  hundred  slips 
of  paper  be  marked.  Each  prospective  passenger  could 
then  draw  one  slip  out  of  a  box. 

"It's  aU  right,  boys,"  the  observers  yelled  back  at  those 
clamouring  in  the  rear. 

One  of  the  officials  stood  on  a  barrel  holding  the  box, 
while  a  clerk  with  a  Hst  of  names  sat  below. 

"As  I  call  the  names,  will  each  gentleman  step  forward 
and  draw  his  sHp?  "  annoimced  the  official. 

We  were  all  watching  with  our  mouths  open  intensely 
interested. 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  a  damfool  way  of  doing  the 
thing? "  said  Talbot.    "Here,  give  me  a  boost  up ! " 

Johnny  and  I  raised  him  on  our  shoulders. 

"Gentlemen!  gentlemen!"  he  cried  a  number  of  times 
before  he  could  be  heard  above  the  row.  Finally  they  gave 
him  attention. 

"I'm  a  ticket  holder  in  this  thing;  and  I  want  to  see  it 
done  right.  I  want  to  ask  that  gentleman  there  what  is  to 
prevent  the  wrong  man  from  answering  to  a  name,  from 
drawing  a  slip  mthout  having  any  right  to?  " 

"The  right  man  will  prevent  him,"  answered  a  voice. 
The  crowd  laughed. 

"Well,  who's  to  decide,  in  case  of  dispute,  which  is  the 

69 


GOLD 

right  man  and  which  the  wrong  man?  And  what's  to 
prevent  any  man,  after  the  drawing,  from  marking  a  blank 
slip  —  or  making  a  new  slip  entirely?" 

"That's  right! "    "  Correct! "  shouted  several  voices. 

The  officials  consulted  hurriedly.  Then  one  of  them 
announced  that  the  drawing  would  be  postponed  imtil  the 
following  morning.  Each  was  to  bring  his  steamship 
ticket  with  him.  The  winners  in  the  drawing  must  be 
prepared  to  have  their  tickets  countersigned  on  the  spot. 
With  this  understanding  we  dispersed. 

This  was  Talbot  Ward's  first  pubUc  appearance;  the  first 
occasion  in  which  he  called  himself  to  the  attention  of  his 
fellows  assembled  in  public  meeting.  The  occasion  was 
trivial,  and  it  is  only  for  this  reason  that  I  mention  it.  His 
personality  at  once  became  known,  and  remembered;  and 
I  recollect  that  many  total  strangers  spoke  to  him  that 
evening. 

By  next  morning  the  transportation  officials  had  worked 
it  out.  We  could  not  all  get  into  the  office,  so  the  drawing 
took  place  on  the  Plaza  outside.  As  each  man's  name  was 
called,  he  stepped  forward,  showed  his  ticket,  and  was 
allowed  to  draw  a  slip  from  the  box.  If  it  proved  to  be  a 
blank,  he  went  away;  if  he  was  lucky,  he  had  his  ticket 
vis6d  on  the  spot.  Such  a  proceeding  took  the  greater  part 
of  the  day;  but  the  excitement  remained  intense.  No  one 
thought  of  leaving  even  for  the  noon  meal. 

Yank  drew  passage  on  the  first  steamer.  Talbot, 
Johnny,  and  I  drew  blanks. 

We  walked  down  to  the  shore  to  talk  over  the  situ- 
ation. 

70 


PANAMA 

*' We  ought  to  have  bought  tickets  good  on  this  particular 
ship,  not  merely  good  on  this  Kne, "  said  Johnny. 

"Doesn't  matter  what  we  ought  to  have  done,"  rejoined 
Talbot  a  little  impatiently.  "What  are  we  going  to  do? 
Are  we  going  to  wait  here  imtil  the  next  steamer  comes 
along?" 

"That's  likely  to  be  two  or  three  months  —  nobody 
knows, "  said  Johnny. 

"No;  it's  in  six  weeks,  I  believe.  They  tell  me  they've 
started  regular  trips  on  a  new  mail  contract. " 

"Well,  six  weeks.  If  we  stay  in  this  hole  we'll  all  be 
sick;  we'll  be  broke;  and  in  the  meantime  every  oimce  of 
gold  in  the  country  wiQ  have  been  picked  up. " 

"What's  the  alternative?"  I  asked. 

"  Sailing  vessel, "  said  Talbot  briefly. 

"That's  mighty  uncertain, "  I  objected.  " Nobody  knows 
when  one  will  get  in;  and  when  it  does  show  up  it'll  be  a  mad 
scramble  to  get  to  her.    There's  a  mob  waiting  to  go. " 

"Well,  it's  one  or  the  other.  We  can't  walk;  and  I  don't 
see  that  the  situation  is  going  to  be  much  better  when  the 
next  steamer  does  get  here.  There  are  a  couple  of  hundred 
to  crowd  in  on  her  —  just  counting  those  who  are  here  and 
have  tickets.    And  then  there  will  be  a  lot  more. " 

"I'm  for  the  sailing  vessel,"  said  Johnny.  "They  come 
in  every  week  or  two  now;  and  if  we  can't  make  the  first 
one,  we'll  have  a  good  chance  at  the  second  or  the  third. " 

Talbot  looked  at  me  inquiringly. 

"Sounds  reasonable,"  I  admitted. 

"Then  we've  no  time  to  lose,"  said  Talbot  decisively, 
and  turned  away  toward  the  town. 

71 


GOLD 

Yank,  who  had  listened  silently  to  our  brief  discussion, 
shifted  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder  and  followed.  Shortly  he 
fell  behind;  and  we  lost  him. 

We  accompanied  Talbot  in  some  bewilderment,  for 
there  was  no  ship  in  sight  nor  in  prospect,  and  we  could  not 
understand  any  reason  for  this  haste.  Talbot  led  the  way 
directly  to  the  steamship  office. 

"I  want  to  see  Brown,"  he  asserted,  naming  the  chief 
agent  for  the  company. 

The  clerk  hesitated:  Brown  was  an  important  man  and 
not  to  be  disturbed  for  trivial  matters.  But  Talbot's  eye 
could  be  very  assured. 

''What  is  your  business  with  Mr.  Brown?  "asked  the  clerk. 

"It  is  with  Mr.  Brown,"  said  Talbot  firmly,  "and  I  may 
add  that  it  is  to  Mr.  Brown's  own  interest  to  see  me.  Tell 
him  just  that,  and  that  Mr.  Talbot  Ward  of  New  York 
City  desires  an  immediate  interview." 

The  clerk  was  gone  for  some  moments,  to  the  manifest 
annoyance  of  a  dozen  miners  who  wanted  his  attention. 
When  he  returned  he  motioned  us  to  a  screened-off  private 
office  in  the  rear. 

"Mr.  Brown  will  see  you, "  said  he. 

We  found  Brown  to  be  a  florid,  solidly  built  man  of  fifty, 
with  a  keen  eye  and  a  brown  beard.  He  nodded  to  us 
briefly  and  looked  expectant. 

"We  three  men,"  said  Talbot  directly,  "hold  three 
tickets  on  your  line.  We  were  not  fortunate  enough  to  get 
passage  on  the  next  steamer,  and  our  business  will  not 
permit  us  to  wait  until  the  one  after.  We  want  our  money 
back." 

72 


PANAMA 

Brown's  face  darkened. 

"That  is  a  matter  for  my  clerks,  not  for  me,"  he  said 
curtly.  "I  was  told  your  business  was  to  my  advantage. 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  tickets. " 

"One  minute,"  said  Talbot.  "There  are  between  two 
and  three  hundred  men  in  this  town  each  one  of  whom 
bought  a  ticket  from  your  company  in  New  York  in  the 
expectation,  if  not  under  the  imderstanding,  that  they  were 
to  get  through  passage  immediately." 

"No  such  thing  was  expected  or  guaranteed,"  interposed 
Brown  abruptly. 

"Not  guaranteed,  nor  expected  by  you  —  by  us, 
yes." 

"I  cannot  argue  that  matter.  I  have  no  further  time 
for  you.  Good-day. "  And  Brown  once  more  reached  his 
hand  toward  his  bell. 

"Suppose,"  said  Talbot  softly,  leaning  forward.  "I 
should  put  it  into  the  heads  of  those  three  hundred  men 
that  they  ought  to  get  their  passage  money  back?  " 

Brown's  hand  stopped  in  midair. 

"They  are  large,  violent,  armed  men;  and  they  are  far 
from  pure  home  influences,"  went  on  Talbot  mockingly. 
"Here's  a  sample  of  them,"  said  he  indicating  my  huge 
frame.  "And  there  are  a  thousand  or  so  more,  not  directly 
interested  but  dying  for  excitement. " 

"Are  you  trying  to  intimidate  me,  sir?"  demanded 
Brown. 

"I  am  just  stating  conditions. " 

"You  are  threatening  me." 

"  Ah,  that  is  different, "  said  Talbot  Ward. 

73 


GOLD 

Brown  sat  lost  in  thought  for  some  moments.  Thea 
ke  reached  forward  and  at  last  struck  the  bell. 

"Let  me  have  your  tickets,"  he  commanded  us  shortly. 

He  endorsed  them  and  handed  them  to  the  clerk,  together 
with  a  written  order.  We  all  sat  in  absolute  silence  for 
perhaps  five  minutes.  Then  the  clerk  returned  with  a 
handful  of  gold.  This  Brown  counted  over  and  shoved 
across  to  Talbot.  The  latter  also  counted  it,  and  thrust  it 
in  his  pocket. 

"Now,"  said  Brown,  with  something  approaching 
geniality,  "I  am  counting  on  your  honour  to  say  nothing  of 
this  outside.  I  am  gambling  on  your  evident  class  in  life 
at  home." 

"You  have  our  promise,  and  it  will  be  kept,"  said  Talbot 
rising.  "But  imdoubtedly  within  two  days  you  will  think 
I  am  the  biggest  Har  unhimg.  There  will  be  many  more 
who  will  think  of  this  same  simple  plan  of  getting  a  refund 
on  their  tickets  and  who  will  blab  it  out  to  every  one  on  the 
street.  You  would  do  well  to  make  your  plans  now  as  to 
how  you  intend  to  deal  with  them.  But  remember,  I,  nor 
my  friends,  will  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  it. " 

"I  understand  that  there  will  be  plenty  making  your 
same  demand,"  said  Brown,  "but  I  doubt  any  of  them  will 
think  of  urging  that  demand. " 

We  left.  As  a  matter  of  interest,  Talbot's  prediction  was 
correct;  as,  indeed.  Brown  had  immediately  recognized 
it  would  be.  Talbot  had  only  the  advantage  of  thinking  a 
little  quicker  than  the  next  man,  of  acting  immediately,  and 
of  allowing  no  time  for  reflection  to  the  other.  The  steam- 
ship office  had  a  strenuous  time.    Talbot's  threat  had  this 

74 


PANAMA 

much  of  real  significance:  that  there  was,  lacking  him,  no 
organized  demonstration.  Each  man  went  for  himself  and 
demanded  his  money  back.  In  a  few  rare  cases  he  got  it; 
but  was  generally  bluffed  out,  or  blandly  referred  back  to 
the  New  York  offices,  or  reasoned  out.  The  situation  came 
near  to  riot,  but  in  some  difficult  manner  it  was  tided  over. 
A  few  settled  down  to  wait  for  the  next  steamer.  The 
majority  decided  for  sailing  ships,  and  pocketed  their 
steamer  tickets  in  hopes  of  future  reimbursement.  One 
score  of  fanatics  and  ignoramuses,  in  dense  ignorance  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  journey,  actually  started  out  to  row  to 
San  Francisco  in  an  open  boat!  They  were  never  heard  of 
again.  One  or  two  parties  modified  this  plan  by  proceeding 
in  fishing  boats  to  the  extremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Lower 
California,  and  thence  marched  overland  to  San  Diego. 
Their  sufferings  in  that  arid  region  were  great,  but  they 
managed  to  arrive  many  months  later. 

We  returned  to  our  lodgings,  congratulating  Talbot  on 
the  promptitude  of  his  action,  for  already  we  saw  deter- 
mined looking  men  hurrying  across  the  plaza  toward  the 
offices. 

At  our  place  we  found  that  Yank  had  not  returned. 
At  first  we  thought  nothing  of  this;  but  about  dusk  we 
found  that  all  his  belongings  had  disappeared. 


7S 


CHAPTER  rX 
NORTHWARD  HO! 

Wc  could  not  understand  this  sudden  departure,  except 
on  the  possible  ground  that  Yank,  realizing  that  now  the 
party  must  split  forces,  had  decided  to  seek  new  companions 
among  those  lucky  enough  to  sail  on  the  first  steama:. 

''Even  then  he  needn't  have  been  in  such  a  hurry," 
complained  Johnny  a  trifle  bitterly.  "And  he  needn't 
have  thought  we'd  be  in  his  way. " 

"Has  he  paid  his  share  of  the  lodgings?"  it  occurred  to 
me  to  ask. 

We  felt  quite  bitter  against  Yank,  and  we  carefully 
avoided  his  usual  haunts,  for  we  did  not  want  to  meet  him. 
Then  we  began  to  think  it  strange  we  had  not  run  across 
him  somewhere  on  the  streets.  Then  we  began  to  look  for 
him.    We  found  that  Yank  had  disappeared ! 

At  that,  a  little  alarmed,  we  set  ourselves  to  a  serious 
search  and  inquiry.  A  few  remembered  to  have  seen  him, 
but  were  vague  as  to  when  and  where.  The  authorities 
moved  sluggishly,  and  with  little  enthusiasm.  Men  were 
dying  every  day;  and  disappearing  imderground,  leaving 
no  trace  of  themselves  behind.  One  more  or  less  seemed 
unimportant. 

In  the  meanwhile  we  spent  much  of  our  time  by  the  shore, 
together  with  a  comfortable  majority  of  our  fellow  argo- 

76 


NORTHWARD    HO! 

nauts,  awaiting  the  sighting  of  a  vessel.  We  had  engaged, 
and  paid  daily,  a  boatman  to  be  in  readiness  to  take  us  off; 
and  we  settled  our  lodgings  account  a  week  ahead. 

"There's  going  to  be  a  scramble  for  that  blessed  ship," 
said  Talbot;  "and  we'll  just  be  prepared. " 

To  that  end  we  also  kept  our  effects  packed  and  ready  for 
instant  removal. 

The  beach  was  not  a  bad  place.  It  ran  out  the  peninsula 
in  a  long  gentle  curve;  and  the  surges  broke  snow  white  on 
yellow  sands.  Across  deep  blue  water  was  an  island;  and 
back  of  us  palm  trees  whipped  in  the  trade  winds.  We  sat 
under  them,  and  yarned  and  played  cards  and  smoked. 
In  bad  weather  —  and  it  rained  pretty  often  —  we  huddled 
in  smoky  little  huts;  those  of  us  who  could  get  in.  The 
rest  tried  to  stick  it  out;  or  returned  with  rather  a  relieved 
air  to  the  town. 

The  expected  ship  came,  of  course,  on  one  of  these  dull 
gray  days;  and  those  who  had  thought  themselves  unlucky 
in  being  crowded  out  of  the  huts  were  the  first  to  sight  her. 
They  sneaked  down  very  quietly  and  tried  to  laimch  two 
of  the  boats.  Of  course  the  native  boatmen  were  all  inside; 
trust  them !  As  a  high  surf  was  running,  and  as  none  of  the 
men  were  in  any  sense  good  boatmen,  they  promptly 
broached  to  and  filled.    The  noise  brought  us  to  the  door. 

Then  there  was  a  fine  row.  One  of  the  two  boats  com- 
mandeered by  the  early  birds  happened  to  be  ours!  AU 
our  forethought  seemed  to  have  been  in  vain.  The  be- 
draggled and  crestfallen  men  were  just  wading  ashore  when 
we  descended  upon  them.   Talbot  was  like  a  raving  limatic. 

*'You  hounds  1"  he  roared.    "Don't  you  dare  try  to 

n 


GOLD 

sneak  off!  You  catch  hold  here  and  help  empty  these 
boats  I  You  would,  would  you?"  He  caught  one  escaping 
worthy  by  the  collar  and  jerked  him  so  rapidly  backward 
that  his  heels  fairly  cracked  together.  Johnny  flew  to 
combat  with  a  chuckle  of  joy.  I  contented  myself  by 
knocking  two  of  them  together  until  they  promised  to  be 
good.  The  four  we  had  collared  were  very  meek.  We  all 
waded  into  the  wash  where  the  boat  lay  sluggishly  rolling. 
It  is  no  easy  matter  to  empty  a  boat  in  that  condition. 
Water  weighs  a  great  deal;  is  fearfully  inert,  or  at  least 
feels  so;  and  has  a  bad  habit  of  promptly  slopping  in  again. 
We  tugged  and  heaved,  and  rolled  and  hauled  until  our 
joints  cracked;  but  at  last  we  got  her  free. 

In  the  meantime  forty  other  boats  had  been  laimched  and 
were  fl3dng  over  the  waves  halfway  between  the  shore  and 
the  ship. 

Talbot  was  swearing  steadily  and  with  accuracy;  Johnny 
was  working  like  a  crazy  man;  I  was  heaving  away  at  the 
stem  and  keeping  an  eye  on  our  involimtary  helpers.  The 
boatman,  beside  himself  with  frantic  excitement,  jabbered 
and  ran  about  and  screamed  directions  that  no  one  under- 
stood. About  all  we  were  accomplishing  now  was  the 
keeping  of  that  boat's  head  straight  against  the  heavy  wash. 

It  seemed  as  though  we  tugged  thus  at  cross  purposes  for 
an  hour.  In  reality  it  was  probably  not  over  two  or  three 
minutes.  Then  Talbot  regained  sufficient  control  to  listen 
to  the  boatman.    At  once  he  calmed  down. 

"Here,  boys,"  said  he,  "ease  her  backward.  You, 
Johnny,  stand  by  at  the  bow  and  hold  her  head  on.  Frank 
and  I  will  give  her  a  shove  at  the  stem.    When  the  time 

7« 


"YOU  hounds!'  he  roared,     'don't  you  dare  try 

TO  SNEAK  off!'" 


NORTHWARD    HOI 

comes,  1*11  yell  and  you  pile  right  in,  Johnny.  Vamos, 
Manuel!" 

We  took  our  places;  the  boatman  at  the  oars,  his  eyes 
over  his  shoulder  watching  keenly  the  in-racing  seas. 

The  four  dripping  culprits  looked  at  each  other  uncer- 
tainly, and  one  of  them  started  to  climb  in  the  boat. 

"Well,  for  God's  sake!"  screeched  Talbot,  and  made  a 
headlong  bull  rush  for  the  man. 

The  latter  timabled  right  out  of  the  boat  on  his  back  in 
the  shallow  water.  His  three  companion's  fled  inconti- 
nently up  the  beach,  where  he  followed  them  as  soon  as  he 
could  scramble  to  his  feet. 

Manuel  said  something  sharply,  without  looking  around, 

''Shove!"  screeched  Talbot.    "Pile  in,  Johnny!" 

We  bent  our  backs.  The  boat  resisted,  yielded,  gathered 
headway.  It  seemed  to  be  slipping  away  from  me  down  a 
steep  hill. 

"Jump  in!"  yelled  Talbot. 

I  gave  a  mighty  heave  and  fell  over  the  stem  into  the 
bottom  of  the  boat.  Waters  seemed  to  be  crashing  by; 
but  by  the  time  I  had  gathered  myself  together  and  risen  to 
my  knees,  we  were  outside  the  line  of  breakers,  and  dancing 
like  a  guU  over  the  smooth  broad  surges. 

Ships  could  anchor  no  nearer  than  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
offshore.  By  the  time  we  had  reached  the  craft  she  was 
surrounded  by  little  boats  bobbing  and  rubbing  against  her 
sides.  She  proved  to  be  one  of  that  very  tubby,  bluff- 
bowed  type  then  so  commonly  in  use  as  whalers  and 
freighters.  The  decks  swarmed  black  with  an  excited 
crowd. 

79 


GOLD 

We  rowed  slowly  around  her.  We  were  wet,  and  begin- 
ning to  chill.  No  way  seemed  to  offer  by  which  we  could 
reach  her  decks  save  by  difficult  clambermg,  for  the  gang 
ladder  was  surrounded  ten  deep  by  empty  boats.  A  pro- 
found discouragement  succeeded  the  excitement  under 
which  we  had  made  our  effort. 

''To  hell  with  her!"  snarled  Johnny,  "There's  no  sense 
going  aboard  her.  There's  enough  on  deck  now  to  fill  her 
three  times  over.    Let's  get  back  where  its  warm. " 

"If  I  run  across  any  of  those  fellows  in  town  I'll  break 
their  necks!"  said  I. 

"What  makes  me  mad "  continued  Johnny, 

"Oh,  for  heaven's  sake  shut  up!"  cried  Talbot. 

If  he  had  been  a  little  less  cold  and  miserable  we  probably 
would  have  quarrelled.  As  it  was,  we  merely  humped  over, 
and  motioned  the  astonished  Manuel  to  return  to  the  shore. 
Our  boat's  head  turned,  we  dropped  down  under  the  bow  of 
the  ship.  In  order  to  avoid  the  sweep  of  the  seas  Manuel 
held  us  as  closely  as  possible  under  the  bowsprit.  Wc 
heard  a  hail  above  us.  Looking  up  we  saw  Yank  bending 
over  the  rail. 

We  stared  at  him,  our  mouths  open,  so  astonished  that 
for  a  moment  we  did  not  even  think  to  check  the  boat. 
Then  we  came  back  in  a  clumsy  circle.  Yank  yelled  at  us; 
and  we  yelled  back  at  him;  but  so  great  was  the  crash  of 
waters  and  the  whistling  of  wind  that  we  could  make  out 
nothing.  Then  Yank  motioning  us  to  remain  where  we 
were,  disappeared,  to  return  after  a  short  interval,  with  a 
speaking  trumpet. 

"  Have  you  got  your  baggage  with  you?  "  he  roared. 

80 


NORTHWARD    HOI 

We  shook  our  heads  and  waved  our  arms. 

"Go  get  it! "he  ordered. 

We  screamed  something  back  at  him. 

"  Go  get  it ! "  he  rep)eated;  and  withdrew  his  head  entirely. 

We  rowed  back  to  town;  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to 
return  to  the  exposed  beach  where  we  had  waited  to  sight 
the  ships.  Johnny  and  I  indulged  in  much  excited  specu- 
lation, but  Talbot  refused  to  show  curiosity. 

"He's  there,  and  he's  evidently  engaged  us  passage;  and 
he  wants  us  aboard  to  claim  it,"  said  he,  "and  that's  all  we 
can  know  now;  and  that's  enough  for  me.  " 

On  our  way  we  met  a  whole  fleet  of  boats  racing  their 
belated  way  from  town.  We  grinned  sardonically  over  the 
plight  of  these  worthies.  A  haK-hour  sufficed  us  to  change 
our  clothes,  collect  our  effects,  and  return  to  the  water 
front.  On  the  return  journey  we  crossed  the  same  fleet  of 
boats  inward  bound.  Their  occupants  looked  generally 
very  depressed. 

Yank  met  us  at  the  top  of  the  gangway,  and  assisted  us 
in  getting  our  baggage  aboard.  Johnny  and  I  peppered 
him  with  questions,  to  which  he  vouchsafed  no  answer. 
When  we  had  paid  off  the  boatman,  he  led  the  way  down  a 
hatch  into  a  very  dark  hole  near  the  bows.  A  dim  lantern 
swayed  to  and  fro,  through  the  murk  we  could  make  out 
a  dozen  bunks. 

"They  call  this  the  fo'cas'le,"  said  Yank  placidly. 
'*Crew  sleeps  here.  This  is  our  happy  home.  Everything 
else  full  up.  We  four,"  said  he,  with  a  little  flash  of 
triumph,  "are  just  about  the  only  galoots  of  the  whole 
b'iling  at  Panama  that  gets  passage.    She's  loaded  to  the 

Si 


GOLD 

muzzle  with  men  that's  come  away  around  the  Horn  in  her; 
and  the  only  reason  she  stopped  in  here  at  all  is  to  get  a 
new  thing-um-a-jig  of  some  sort  that  she  had  lost  or  busted 
or  something. " 

"Well,  I  don't  like  my  happy  home  while  she  wobbles 
so,"  said  Johnny.  "I'm  going  to  be  seasick,  as  usual.  But 
for  heaven's  sake,  Yank,  teU  us  where  you  came  from,  and 
all  about  it.  And  make  it  brief,  for  I'm  going  to  be  seasick 
pretty  soon. " 

He  lay  down  in  one  of  the  bunks  and  closed  his  eyes. 

"You'd  much  better  come  up  on  deck  into  the  fresh  air,  '* 
said  Talbot. 

"  Fire  ahead,  Yank !    Please ! "  begged  Johnny. 

"Well,"  said  Yank,  "when  I  drew  that  steamer  ticket, 
it  struck  me  that  somebody  might  want  it  a  lot  more  than 
I  did,  especially  as  you  fellows  drew  blank.  So  I  hunted 
up  a  mail  who  was  in  a  hurry,  and  sold  it  to  him  for  five 
hundred  dollars.  Then  I  hired  one  of  these  sail-rigged 
fishing  boats  and  laid  in  grub  for  a  week  and  went  cruising 
out  to  sea  five  or  six  miles. " 

Johnny  opened  one  eye. 

"Why?"  he  demanded  feebly. 

"I  was  figgerin'  on  meeting  any  old  ship  that  came  along 
a  little  before  the  crowd  got  at  her,"  said  Yank.  "And 
judgin'  by  the  gang's  remarks  that  just  left,  I  should  think 
I'd  figgered  just  right. " 

"You  bet  you  did, "  put  in  Talbot  emphatically. 

"It  must  have  been  mighty  uncomfortable  cruising  out 
there  in  that  little  boat  so  long,"  said  I.  "I  wonder  the 
men  would  stick." 

8a 


NORTHWARD    HO! 

"I  paid  them  and  they  had  to, "  said  Yank  grimly. 

"Why  didn't  you  let  us  in  on  it?"  I  asked. 

"What  for?  It  was  only  a  one-man  job.  So  then  I 
struck  this  ship,  and  got  aboard  her  after  a  little  trouble 
persuading  her  to  stop.  There  wasn't  no  way  of  making 
that  captain  beHeve  we'd  sleep  anjrwheres  we  could  except 
cash;  so  I  had  to  pay  him  a  good  deal. " 

"How  much?"  demanded  Talbot. 

"  It  came  to  two  hundred  apiece.    I'm  sorry. " 

"Glory  be!"  shouted  Talbot,  "we're  ahead  of  the  game. 
Yanlc,  you  long-headed  old  pirate,  let  me  shake  you  by  the 
hand!" 

"I  wish  you  feUows  would  go  away, "  begged  Johnny. 

We  went  on  deck.  The  dusk  was  falling,  and  the  wind 
with  it;  and  to  westward  an  untold  wealth  of  gold  was 
piling  up.  Our  ship  rolled  at  her  anchor,  awaiting  the 
return  of  those  of  her  people  who  had  gone  ashore.  On  the 
beach  tiny  spots  of  lights  twinkled  where  some  one  had 
built  fires.  A  warmth  was  stealing  out  from  the  shore  over 
the  troubled  waters.  Talbot  leaned  on  the  rail  by  my  side. 
Suddenly  he  chuckled  explosively. 

"I  was  just  thinking,"  said  he  in  explanation,  "of  us 
damfools  roosting  on  that  beach  in  the  rain. " 

Thus  at  last  we  escaped  from  the  Isthmus.  At  the  end 
of  twenty-four  hours  we  had  left  the  island  of  Tobago 
astern,  and  were  reaching  to  the  north. 


S3 


PART  II 
THE  GOLDEN  CITY 


->- 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  GOLDEN  CITY 

We  stood  in  between  the  hills  that  guarded  the  bay  of 
San  Francisco  about  ten  o'clock  of  an  early  spring  day. 
A  fresh  cold  wind  pursued  us;  and  the  sky  above  us  was 
bluer  than  I  had  ever  seen  it  before,  even  on  the  Isthmus. 
To  our  right  some  great  rocks  were  covered  with  seals  and 
sea  lions,  and  back  of  them  were  hills  of  yellow  sand.  A 
beautiful  great  mountain  rose  green  to  our  left,  and  the 
water  beneath  us  swirled  and  eddied  in  numerous  whirl- 
pools made  by  the  tide. 

Everybody  was  on  deck  and  close  to  the  rail.  We 
strained  our  eyes  ahead;  and  saw  two  islands,  and  beyond 
a  shore  of  green  hills.  None  of  us  knew  where  San  Francisco 
was  located,  nor  could  we  find  out.  The  ship's  company 
were  much  too  busy  to  pay  attention  to  our  questions. 
The  great  opening  out  of  the  bay  beyond  the  long  narrows 
v/as  therefore  a  surprise  to  us;  it  seemed  as  vast  as  an 
inland  sea.  We  hauled  to  the  wind,  turning  sharp  to  the 
south,  glided  past  the  bold  point  of  rocks. 

Then  we  saw  the  city  concealed  in  a  bend  of  the  cove. 
It  was  mainly  of  canvas;  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands  of 
tents  and  canvas  houses  scattered  about  the  sides  of  hiUs. 
The  flat  was  covered  with  them,  too,  and  they  extended  for 
«>me  distance  along  the  shore  of  the  cove.    A  great  dust, 

87 


GOLD 

borne  by  the  wind  that  had  brought  us  in,  swept  across  the 
city  like  a  cloud  of  smoke.  Hundreds  and  hundreds  of 
vessels  lay  at  anchor  in  the  harbour,  a  vast  fleet. 

We  were  immediately  surrounded  by  small  boats,  and 
our  decks  filled  with  men.  We  had  our  first  sight  of  the 
genuine  miners.  They  proved  to  be  as  various  as  the 
points  of  the  compass.  Big  men,  Httle  men,  clean  men, 
dirty  men,  shaggy  men,  shaven  men,  but  all  instinct  with 
an  eager  life  and  energy  I  have  never  seen  equalled.  Most 
wore  the  regulation  dress  —  a  red  shirt,  pantaloons  tucked 
into  the  tops  of  boots,  broad  belts  with  sometimes  silver 
buckles,  silk  Chinese  sashes  of  vivid  raw  colours,  a  revolver, 
a  bowie  knife,  a  floppy  old  hat.  Occasionally  one,  more 
dignified  than  the  rest,  sported  a  shiny  top  hat;  but  always 
with  the  red  shirt.  These  were  merchants,  and  men  per- 
manently established  in  the  town. 

They  addressed  us  eagerly,  asking  a  thousand  questions 
concerning  the  news  of  the  outside  world.  We  could 
hardly  answer  them  in  our  desire  to  question  in  return. 
Were  the  gold  stories  really  true?  Were  the  diggings  very 
far  away?  were  the  diggings  holding  out?  What  were  the 
chances  for  newcomers?  And  so  on  without  end;  and  the 
burden  always  of  gold!  gold!  gold! 

We  were  answered  with  the  enthusiasm  of  an  old-timer 
welcoming  a  newcomer  to  any  country.  Gold!  Plenty 
of  it!  They  told  us,  in  breathless  snatches,  the  most 
marvellous  tales  —  one  sailor  had  dug  $17,000  in  a  week; 
another  man,  a  farmer  from  New  England,  was  taking  out 
$5,000  to  $6,000  daily.  They  mentioned  names  and 
places.    They  pointed  to  the  harbour  full  of  shipping. 


THE    GOLDEN    CITY 

"Four  hundred  ships,"  said  they,  "and  hardly  a  dozen 
men  aboard  the  lot!  All  gone  to  the  mines!"  And  one 
man  snatching  a  long  narrow  buckskin  bag  from  his  pockety 
shook  out  of  its  mouth  to  the  palm  of  his  hand  a  tiny 
cascade  of  glittering  yellow  particles  —  the  Dust!  We 
shoved  and  pushed,  crowding  around  him  to  see  this  mar- 
vellous sight.  He  laughed  in  a  sort  of  excited  triimiph,  and 
tossed  the  stuff  into  the  air.  The  breeze  caught  it  and 
scattered  it  wide.  A  nimaber  of  the  Kttle  glittering  par- 
ticles clung  to  my  rough  coat,  where  they  flashed  like 
spangles. 

^'Plenty  more  where  that  came  from!"  cried  the  man; 
and  turned  away  with  a  reckless  laugh. 

Filled  with  the  wine  of  this  new  excitement  we 
finally  succeeded  iQ  getting  ashore  in  one  of  the  ship's 
boats. 

We  landed  on  a  flat  beach  of  deep  black  sand.  It  was 
strewn  from  one  end  to  the  other  by  the  most  extraordi- 
nary wreckage.  There  were  levers,  cogwheels,  cranks,  fans, 
twisted  bar,  and  angle  iron,  in  all  stages  of  rust  and  disin- 
tegration. Some  of  these  machines  were  half  buried  in  the 
sand;  others  were  tidily  laid  up  on  stones  as  though  just 
landed.  They  were  of  copper,  iron,  zinc,  brass,  tin,  wood. 
We  recognized  the  genus  at  a  glance.  They  were,  one  and 
all,  patent  labour-saving  gold  washing  machines,  of  which 
we  had  seen  so  many  samples  aboard  ship.  At  this  sight 
vanished  the  last  remains  of  the  envy  I  had  ever  felt  for  the 
owners  of  similar  contraptions. 

We  looked  about  for  some  sort  of  conveyance  into  whick 
to   dimap   oiu:    belongings.     Apparently    none    existed. 

89 


GOLD 

Therefore  we  piled  most  of  our  effects  neatly  above  high 
tide,  shouldered  our  bundles,  and  started  off  up  the  sin- 
gle street. 

On  either  side  this  thoroughfare  stood  hundreds  of  open 
sheds  and  buildings  in  the  course  of  construction.  Goods 
of  all  sorts,  and  in  great  quantity,  lay  beneath  them,  wholly 
or  partially  exposed  to  the  dust  and  weather.  Many 
unopened  bales  had  been  left  in  the  open  air.  One  low 
brick  building  of  a  single  story  seemed  to  be  the  only  sub- 
stantial structure  in  sight.  We  saw  quantities  of  calicos, 
silks,  rich  furniture,  stacks  of  the  pieces  of  knock-down 
houses,  tierces  of  tobacco,  piles  of  all  sorts  of  fancy  clothing. 
The  most  unexpected  and  incongruous  items  of  luxury 
seemed  to  have  been  dumped  down  here  from  the  comers 
of  the  earth,  by  the  four  hundred  ships  swinging  idly  at 
anchor  in  the  bay. 

The  street  was,  I  think,  the  worst  I  have  ever  seen  any- 
where. It  was  a  morass  of  mud,  sticky  greasy  mud,  of 
some  consistency,  but  full  of  water-holes  and  rivulets. 
It  looked  ten  feet  deep;  and  I  should  certainly  have  ven- 
tured out  on  it  with  misgivings.  And  yet,  incongruously 
enough,  the  surface  ridges  of  it  had  dried,  and  were  lifting 
into  the  air  in  the  form  of  dust!  This  was  of  course  my 
first  experience  with  that  common  California  phenomenon, 
and  I  was  greatly  astonished. 

An  attempt  had  been  made  to  supply  footing  for  pedes- 
trians. Bags  of  sand  had  been  thrown  down,  some  rocks, 
a  very  few  boxes  and  boards.  Then  our  feet  struck  some- 
thing soft  and  yielding,  and  we  foimd  we  were  walking 
over  hundred  pound  sacks  of  flour  marked  as  from  Chili. 

90 


THE    GOLDEN    CITY 

There  must  have  been  many  himdred  of  them.  A  man 
going  in  the  opposite  direction  sidled  past  ns. 

"Cheaper  than  limaber,"  said  he  briefly,  seeing  our 
astonishment. 

"I'd  hate  to  ask  the  price  of  lumber,"  remarked  one  of 
our  ship's  companions,  with  whom  —  and  a  number  of 
others  —  we  were  penetrating  the  town.  This  man 
carried  only  a  very  neat  black  morocco  satchel  and  a  net 
bag  containing  a  half  dozen  pineapples,  the  last  of  a  number 
he  had  brought  from  the  Isthmus.  The  contrast  of  that 
morocco  bag  with  the  rest  of  him  was  quite  as  amusing  as 
any  we  saw  about  us;  though,  of  course,  he  did  not  appreci- 
ate that. 

We  walked  on  flour  for  a  hundred  feet,  or  so,  and  then 
came  to  cook  stoves.  I  mean  it.  A  battalion  of  heavy 
iron  cook  stoves  had  been  laid  side  by  side  to  form  a  cause- 
way. Their  weight  combined  with  the  traffic  over  them 
had  gradually  pressed  them  down  into  the  mud  imtili 
their  tops  were  nearly  level  with  the  surface.  Naturally 
the  first  merry  and  drunken  joker  had  shied  the  lids  into 
space.  The  pedestrian  had  now  either  to  step  in  and  out 
of  fire  boxes  or  try  his  skill  on  narrow  ledges!  Next  we 
came  to  a  double  row  of  boxes  of  tobacco;  then  to  some 
baled  goods,  and  so  off  onto  solid  ground. 

We  passed  many  people,  all  very  intent  on  getting  along 
safely.  F*  -m  the  security  of  the  shed  stores  the  proprietors 
and  an  assorted  lot  of  loafers  watched  proceedings  with 
interest.  The  task  of  crossing  the  street  from  one  side  to 
the  other,  especially,  was  one  not  lightly  to  be  undertaken? 
A  man  had  to  balance,  to  leap,  to  poise;  and  at  last  probably, 

91 


GOLD 

to  teeter  back  and  forth  trying  to  keep  his  balance  like  a 
small  boy  on  a  fence  rail,  until,  with  an  oath  of  disgust,  he 
stepped  off  into  the  slime. 

When  we  had  gained  the  dry  groimd  near  the  head  of  the 
street  we  threw  down  our  burdens  for  a  rest. 

"I'll  give  you  ten  dollars  for  those  pineapples!"  offered 
a  passerby,  stopping  short. 

Our  companion  quickly  closed  the  bargain. 

"What  do  you  think  of  that?"  he  demanded  of  us  wide- 
eyed,  and  in  the  hearing  of  the  purchaser. 

The  latter  grinned  a  little,  and  hailed  a  man  across  the 
street. 

"  Charley ! "  he  yelled.    "  Come  over  here ! " 

The  individual  addressed  offered  some  demur,  but 
finally  picked  his  way  across  to  us. 

"How  do  you  like  these?"  demanded  the  pineapple 
purchaser,  showing  his  fruit. 

"Jerusalem!"  cried  Charley  admiringly,  "where  did  you 
get  them?    Want  to  sell  'em?  " 

"I  want  some  myself,  but  I'll  sell  you  three  of 
them." 

"How  much?" 

"Fifteen  doUars." 

"  Give  'em  to  me. " 

The  first  purchaser  grinned  openly  at  our  companion. 

The  latter  followed  into  the  nearest  store  to  get  his  share 
of  the  dust  weighed  out.  His  face  wore  a  very  thoughtful 
expression. 

We  came  shortly  to  the  Plaza,  since  called  Portsmouth 
Square.    At  that  time  it  was  a  wind-swept,  grass-growHj 

92 


THE    GOLDEN    CITY 

scrubby  enough  plot  of  ground.  On  all  sides  were  per- 
manent buildings.  The  most  important  of  these  were  a 
low  picturesque  house  of  the  sun-dried  bricks  known  as 
adobes,  in  which,  as  it  proved,  the  customs  were  levied;  a 
frame  two-story  structure  known  as  the  Parker  House,  and 
a  similar  building  labelled  *'City  Hotel."  The  spaces 
between  these  larger  edifices  was  occupied  by  a  dozen  or  so 
of  smaller  shacks.  Next  door  to  the  Parker  House  stood  a 
huge  flapping  tent.  The  words  El  Dorado  were  painted 
on  its  side. 

The  square  itself  was  crowded  with  people  moving  to 
and  fro.  The  solid  majority  of  the  crowd  consisted  of  red 
or  blue  shirted  miners;  but  a  great  many  nations  and 
frames  of  minds  seemed  to  be  represented.  Chinese 
merchants,  with  red  coral  buttons  atop  their  stiff  little 
skullcaps,  wandered  slowly,  their  hands  tucked  in  capacious 
sleeves  of  the  richest  brocade.  We  had  seen  few  of  this 
race;  and  we  looked  at  them  with  the  greatest  interest, 
examining  closely  their  broad  bland  faces,  the  delicate 
lilacs  and  purples  and  blues  of  their  rich  costumes,  the 
swaying  silk  braided  queues  down  their  backs.  Other 
Chinese,  of  the  lower  castes,  clad  in  blue  canvas  with 
broad  bowl-shaped  hats  of  straw  on  their  heads,  wormed 
their  way  through  the  crowd  balancing  baskets  at  the  ends 
of  poles.  Rivalling  the  great  Chinese  merchants  in  their 
leisure,  strolled  the  representatives  of  the  native  race,  the 
Spanish  Californians.  They  were  darkly  handsome  men, 
dressed  gloriously  in  short  velvet  jackets,  snowy  ruffles, 
plush  trousers  flaring  at  the  bottom,  and  sht  up  the  side  of 
the  leg,  soft  leather  boots,  and  huge  spurs  ornamented  with 

93 


GOLD 

silver.  They  sauntered  to  and  fro  smoking  brown-paper 
dgarettos.  Beside  these  two,  the  Chinese  and  the  Cali- 
fornians,  but  one  other  class  seemed  to  be  moving  with 
any  deliberation.  These  were  men  seen  generally  alone, 
or  at  most  in  pairs.  They  were  quiet,  waxy  pale,  dressed 
always  neatly  in  soft  black  hat,  white  shirt,  long  black  coat, 
and  varnished  boots.  In  the  face  of  a  general  gabble  they 
seemed  to  remain  indifferently  silent,  self-contained  and 
aloof.  To  occasional  salutations  they  responded  briefly 
and  with  gravity. 

"Professional  gamblers, "  said  Talbot. 

All  the  rest  of  the  crowd  rushed  here  and  there  at  a  great 
speed.  We  saw  the  wildest  incongruities  of  demeanour  and 
costume  beside  which  the  silk-hat-red-shirted  combination 
was  nothing.  They  struck  us  open-mouthed  and  gasping; 
but  seemed  to  attract  not  the  slightest  attention  from  any- 
body else.  We  encoimtered  a  number  of  men  dressed  alike 
in  suits  of  the  finest  broadcloth,  the  coats  of  which  were  lined 
with  red  silk,  and  the  vests  of  embroidered  white.  These 
men  walked  with  a  sort  of  arrogant  importance.  We  later 
found  that  they  were  members  of  that  dreaded  organization 
known  as  The  Hounds,  whose  ostensible  purpose  was  to 
perform  volunteer  police  duty,  but  whose  real  effort  was 
toward  the  increase  of  their  own  power.  These  people  all 
surged  back  and  forth  good-naturedly,  and  shouted  at  each 
other,  and  disappeared  with  great  importance  up  the  side 
streets,  or  darted  out  with  equal  busyness  from  all  points 
of  the  compass.  Every  few  minutes  a  cry  of  warning  would 
go  up  on  one  side  of  the  square  or  another.  The  crowd 
would  scatter  to  right  and  left,  and  down  through  the 

94 


THE    GOLDEN    CITY 

opening  would  thunder  a  horseman  distributing  clouds  of 
dust  and  showers  of  earth. 

"Why  doesn't  somebody  kill  a  few  of  those  crazy  fools!" 
muttered  Talbot  impatiently,  after  a  particularly  close  shave. 

"Why,  you  see,  they's  mostly  drunk, "  stated  a  bystander 
with  an  air  of  explaining  all. 

We  tacked  across  to  the  doors  of  the  Parker  House. 
There  after  some  search  was  made  we  found  the  proprietor. 
He,  too,  seemed  very  busy,  but  he  spared  time  to  trudge 
ahead  of  us  up  two  rickety  flights  of  raw  wooden  stairs  to 
a  loft  where  he  indicated  four  canvas  bunks  on  which  lay  as 
many  coarse  blue  blankets. 

Perhaps  a  hundred  similar  bunks  occupied  every  available 
inch  in  the  little  loft. 

"How  long  you  going  to  stay?  "  he  asked  us. 

"Don't  know;  a  few  days." 

"Well,  six  dollars  apiece,  please- " 

"For  how  long?" 

"For  to-night." 

"Hold  on!"  expostulated  Talbot.  "We  can't  stand 
that  especially  for  these  accommodations.  At  that  price 
we  ought  to  have  something  better.  Haven't  you  anything 
in  the  second  story?" 

The  proprietor's  busy  air  fell  from  him;  and  he  sat  down 
on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  canvas  bunks. 

"I  thought  you  boys  were  from  the  mines,"  said  he. 
"Your  friend,  here,  fooled  me. "  He  pointed  his  thumb  at 
Yank.  "He  looks  like  an  old-timer.  But  now  I  look  at 
you,  I  see  you're  greenhorns.  Just  get  here  to-day? 
Have  a  smoke?" 

9S 


GOLD 

He  produced  a  handful  of  cigars,  of  which  he  Kt  one. 

"We  just  arrived,"  said  Talbot,  somewhat  amused  at 
this  change.     "How  about  that  second  story? " 

"I  want  to  tell  you  boys  a  few  things,"  said  the  proprietor, 
"I  get  sixty  thousand  dollars  a  year  rent  for  that  second 
story  just  as  she  stands.  That  tent  next  door  belongs  to 
my  brother-in-law.  It  is  just  fifteen  by  twenty-five  feet, 
and  he  rents  it  for  forty  thousand. " 

"Gamblers?"  inquired  Talbot. 

"You've  guessed  it.  So  you  see  I  ain't  got  any  beds  to 
speak  of  down  there.    In  fact,  here's  the  whole  layout. " 

"But  we  can't  stand  six  dollars  a  night  for  these  things, '' 
expostulated  Johnny.    "Let's  try  over  at  the  other  place. " 

"Try  ahead,  boys,"  said  the  proprietor  quite  good- 
naturedly.  "You'll  find  her  the  same  over  there;  and 
ijverywhere  else."  He  arose.  "Best  leave  your  plunder 
here  until  you  find  out.    Come  down  and  have  a  drink?  " 

We  found  the  City  Hotel  offered  exactly  the  same  condi- 
tions as  did  the  Parker  House;  except  that  the  proprietor 
was  curt  and  had  no  time  for  us  at  all.  From  that  point, 
still  dissatisfied,  we  extended  our  investigations  beyond  the 
Plaza.  We  found  ourselves  ankle  deep  in  sandhills  on 
which  grew  coarse  grass  and  a  sort  of  sage.  Crazy,  ram- 
shackle huts  made  of  all  sorts  of  material  were  perched  in  all 
sorts  of  places.  Htmdreds  of  tents  had  been  pitched, 
beneath  which  and  in  front  of  which  an  extremely  simple 
housekeeping  was  going  on.  Hunt  as  we  might  we  could 
find  no  place  that  looked  as  though  it  would  take  lodgers. 
Most  of  even  the  better  looking  houses  were  simply  tiny 
skeletons  covered  with  paper,  cloth  or  paint.    By  painstak- 

96 


THE    GOLDEN    CITY 

ing  persistence  we  kept  at  it  until  we  had  enquired  of  every 
building  of  any  pretensions.  Then,  somewhat  discouraged, 
we  picked  our  way  back  to  the  shore  after  our  heavier 
goods. 

The  proprietor  of  the  Parker  House  greeted  us  with 
unabated  good  nature. 

"I  know  how  you  boys  feel,^'  said  he.  "There's  lots  in 
your  fix.  You'd  better  stick  here  to-night  and  then  get 
organized  to  camp  out,  if  you're  going  to  be  here  long. 
I  suppose,  though,  you're  going  to  the  mines?  Well,  it'll 
take  you  several  days  to  make  your  plans  and  get  ready. 
When  you  get  back  from  the  mines  you  won't  have  to  think 
about  these  things. " 

"There's  plenty  of  gold?"  ventured  Johnny. 

"Bushels." 

^'T  should  think  you'd  be  up  there. " 

"I  don't  want  any  better  gold  mine  than  the  old  Parker 
House, "  said  he  comfortably. 

We  paid  him  twenty-four  dollars. 

By  now  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  wind  had 
dropped,  but  over  the  hills  to  seaward  rolled  a  soft  beautiful 
bank  of  fog.  The  sun  was  blotted  out  behind  it  and  a 
chill  fell.    The  crowds  about  the  Plaza  thinned. 

We  economized  our  best  at  supper,  but  had  to  pay  some 
eight  dollars  for  the  four  of  us.  The  bill  was  a  la  carte  and 
contained  such  items  as  grizzly  steak,  antelope,  elk,  and 
wild  duck  and  goose.  Grizzly  steak,  I  remember,  cost  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter.  By  the  time  we  had  finished,  it  had 
grown  dark.  The  lamps  were  alight,  and  the  crowds  were 
beginning  to  gather.    All  the  holdings  and.  the  big  tent 

97 


GOLD 

next  door  were  a  blaze  of  illumination.  The  sounds  of 
music  and  singing  came  from  every  side.  A  holiday  spirit 
was  in  the  air. 

Johnny  and  I  were  crazy  to  be  up  and  doing,  but  Talbot 
sternly  repressed  us,  and  Yank  agreed  with  his  decision  by 
an  unusually  emphatic  nod. 

^'It  is  all  a  lot  of  fun,  I'll  admit,"  said  he;  ''but  this  is 
business.  And  we've  got  to  face  it.  Sit  down  here  on  the 
edge  of  this  veranda,  and  let's  talk  things  over.  How  much 
money  have  you  got,  Yank?" 

"Two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,"  replied  Yank 
promptly. 

"You're  partners  with  me,  Frank,  so  I  know  our  assets, " 
said  Talbot  with  tact.     "Johnny?  " 

"Hanged  if  I  know,"  replied  that  youth.  "I've  got 
quite  a  lot.     I  keep  it  in  my  pack. " 

"Well,  go  find  out,"  advised  Talbot. 

Johnny  was  gone  for  some  time.  We  smoked  and  lis- 
tened to  the  rather  blatantly  mingled  strains  of  music,  and 
v/atched  the  figures  of  men  hurrying  by  in  the  spangled 
darkness. 

Johnny  returned  very  much  excited. 

"I've  been  robbed!"  he  cried. 

"  Robbed?     Is  your  money  all  goD^?  " 

"No,  there's  a  Kttle  left,  but " 

Talbot  laughed  quietly. 

"Sit  down,  Johnny,  and  cool  off,"  he  advised.  "If 
anybody  had  robbed  you,  they'd  have  taken  the  whole  kit 
and  kaboodle.  Did  you  come  out  ahead  on  those  monte 
games?" 

98 


THE    GOLDEN    CITY 

Johnny  blushed,  and  laughed  a  little. 

"I  see  what  you're  at,  but  you're  away  off  there.  I  just 
played  for  small  stakes. " 

"And  lost  a  lot  of  them.  I  sort  of  look-out  your  game. 
But  that's  all  right.  How  much  did  the  'robbers'  leave 
you?" 

**  Twelve  dollars,  besides  what  I  have  in  my  clothes  — 
twenty-one  dollars  in  all, "  said  Johnny. 

"Well,  that's  pretty  good.  You  beat  Frank  and  me  to 
death.  There's  our  total  assets, "  said  Talbot,  and  laid  a 
ten-dollar  gold  piece  and  a  dime  on  his  knee. 

"We'll  call  that  dime  a  curiosity,"  said  he,  "for  I  notice 
a  quarter  is  the  smallest  coin  they  use  out  here.  Now  you 
see  tnat  we've  got  to  talk  business.  Frank  and  I  haven't 
got  enough  to  live  on  for  one  more  day. " 

"There's  enough  among  us "  began  Yank. 

"You  mean  you  already  have  your  share  of  the  partner- 
ship finances,"  corrected  Talbot,  quickly.  "If  we're  going 
to  be  partners  —  and  that's  desired  and  understood, 
I  suppose?"  We  all  nodded  emphatic  agreement.  We 
must  all  put  in  the  same  amount.  I  move  that  said 
amount  be  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  apiece.  Yank, 
you  can  loaf  to-morrow;  you've  got  your  share  all  made  up. 
You  can  put  in  the  day  finding  out  all  about  getting  to  the 
mines,  and  how  much  it  costs,  and  what  we  will  need. " 

" M  right;  I'U  do  it, "  said  Yank. 

"As  for  the  rest  of  us,"  cried  Talbot,  "we've  got  to  rustle 
up  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  each  before  to-morrow 
evening!" 

"How?"  I  asked  blankly 

99 


GOLD 

"How  should  I  know?  Out  there"  he  waved  his  hand 
abroad  at  the  flickering  lights.  "There  is  the  Golden  City, 
challenging  every  man  as  he  enters  her  gates.  She  oJffers 
opportunity  and  fortune.  All  a  man  has  to  do  is  go  and 
take  them !    Accept  the  challenge ! ' ' 

"The  only  way  I  could  take  them  would  be  to  lift  them 
off  some  other  fellow  at  the  point  of  a  gun,"  said  Johnny 
gloomily. 


100 


CHAPTER  XI 
I  MAKE  TWENTY-FIVE  DOLLARS 

We  talked  the  situation  over  thoroughly,  and  then 
turned  in,  having  lost  our  chance  to  see  the  sights.  Be- 
neath us  and  in  the  tent  next  door  went  on  a  tremendous 
row  of  talking,  laughing,  and  singing  that  for  a  little  while 
prevented  me  from  falling  asleep.  But  the  last  month  had 
done  wonders  for  me  in  that  way;  and  shortly  I  dropped  off. 

Hours  later  I  awakened,  shivering  with  cold  to  find  the 
moonlight  pouring  into  the  room,  and  the  bunks  all  occu- 
pied. My  blanket  had  disappeared,  which  accotmted  for 
my  dreams  of  icebergs.  Looking  carefully  over  the  sleeping 
forms  I  discerned  several  with  two  blankets,  and  an  equal 
number  with  none!  At  first  I  felt  inclined  to  raise  a  row; 
then  thought  better  of  it,  by  careful  manipulation  I  ab- 
stracted two  good  blankets  from  the  most  unprotected  of 
of  my  neighbours,  wrapped  them  tightly  about  me,  and  so 
slept  soundly. 

We  went  downstairs  and  out  into  the  sweetest  of  morn- 
ings. The  sun  was  bright,  the  sky  clear  and  blue,  the  wind 
had  not  yet  risen,  balmy  warmth  showered  down  through 
every  particle  of  the  air.  I  had  felt  some  May  days  like 
this  back  on  our  old  farm.  Somehow  they  were  associated 
in  my  mind  with  Sunday  morning  and  the  drawHng,  lazy 
clucking  of  hens.    Only  here  there  were  no  hens,  and  if  it 

lOI 


GOLD 

was '  Sunday:  morning  —  which  it  might  have  been  — 
nobody  knew  it 

".  The  majority.  9f  the  citizens  had  not  yet  appeared,  but  a 
handful  of  the  poorer  Chinese,  and  a  sprinkling  of  others, 
crossed  the  Plaza.  The  doors  of  the  gambling  places  were 
all  wide  open  to  the  air.  Across  the  square  a  munber  of 
small  boys  were  throwing  dust  into  the  air.  Johnny,  with 
his  usual  sympathy  for  children,  naturally  gravitated  in 
their  direction.  He  returned  after  a  few  moments,  his 
eyes  wide. 

**Do  you  know  what  they  are  doing?"  he  demanded. 

We  said  politely  that  we  did  not. 

**They  are  panning  for  gold. " 

"Well,  what  of  it?"  I  asked,  after  a  moment's  pause; 
since  Johnny  seemed  to  expect  some  astonishment.  "Boys 
are  imitative  little  monkeys. " 

"Yes,  but  they're  getting  it, "  insisted  Johnny. 

"What!"  cried  Talbot.  "You're  crazy.  Panning  gold 
—  here  in  the  streets.    It's  absurd ! " 

"It's  not  absurd;  come  and  see. " 

We  crossed  the  Plaza.  Two  small  Americans  and  a 
Mexican  youth  were  scooping  the  surface  earth  into  the 
palms  of  their  hands  and  blowing  it  out  again  in  a  slant- 
wise stream.  When  it  was  all  gone,  they  examined  eagerly 
their  hands.  Four  others  working  in  partnership  had 
spread  a  small  sheet.  They  threw  their  handfuls  of  earth 
into  the  air,  all  the  while  fanning  vigorously  with  their  hats. 
The  breeze  thus  engendered  puffed  away  the  light  dust, 
leaving  only  the  heavier  pieces  to  fall  on  the  canvas. 
Among  these  the  urchins  searched  eagerly  and  carefully- 

I02 


I    MAKE    TWENTY-FIVE    DOLLARS 

their  heads  close  together.  Every  moment  or  so  one  of  the 
them  would  wet  a  forefinger  to  pick  up  carefully  a  speck  of 
something  which  he  would  then  transfer  to  an  old  buck- 
skin sack. 

As  we  approached,  they  looked  up  and  nodded  to  Johnny 
in  a  friendly  fashion.  They  were  eager,  alert,  precocious 
gamins,  of  the  street  type  and  how  they  had  come  to  Cali- 
fornia I  could  not  tell  you.  Probably  as  cabin  boys  of 
some  of  the  himdreds  of  vessels  in  the  harbour. 

**What  are  you  getting,  boys?''  asked  Talbot  after  a 
moment. 

"Gold,  of  course,"  answered  one  of  them. 

"Let's  see  it." 

The  boy  with  the  buckskin  sack  held  it  open  for  our 
inspection,  but  did  not  relax  his  grip  on  it.  The  bottom 
of  the  bag  was  thickly  gilded  with  light  glittering  yellow 
particles. 

"It  looks  like  gold, "  said  I,  incredulously. 

"It  is  gold,"  replied  the  boy  with  some  impatience. 
"Anyway,  it  buys  things." 

We  looked  at  each  other. 

"  Gold  diggings  right  in  the  streets  of  San  Francisco, " 
murmured  YanK. 

"I  should  think  you'd  find  it  easier  later  in  the  day  when 
Hie  wind  came  up?"  suggested  Talbot. 

"Of  course;  and  let  some  other  kids  jump  our  claim 
while  we  were  waiting, "  grunted  one  of  the  busy  miners. 

"  How  much  do  you  get  out  of  it?  " 

"  Good  days  we  make  as  high  as  three  or  four  dollars. " 

"  I'm  afraid  the  diggings  are  hardly  rich  enough  to  tempt 

103 


GOLD 

us,"  observed  Talbot;  "but  isn't  that  the  most  extra- 
ordinary performance !    I'd  no  notion " 

We  returned  slowly  to  the  hotel,  marvelling.  Yesterday 
we  had  been  laughing  at  the  gullibiHty  of  one  of  our  fellow  - 
travellers  who  had  believed  the  tale  of  a  wily  ship's  agent 
to  the  effect  that  it  was  possible  to  live  aboard  the  ship  and 
do  the  mining  within  reach  ashore  at  odd  hours  of  daylight! 
Now  that  tale  did  not  sound  so  wild;  although  of  course  we 
realized  that  the  gold  must  occur  in  very  small  quantities. 
Otherwise  somebody  beside  small  boys  would  be  at  it. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  though  we  did  not  find  it  out  until  very 
much  later,  the  soil  of  San  Francisco  is  not  auriferous  at  all. 
The  boys  were  engaged  in  working  the  morning's  sweepings 
from  the  bars  and  gambhng  houses  which  the  lavish  and 
reckless  handling  of  gold  had  liberally  impregnated.  In 
some  of  the  mining  towns  nearer  the  source  of  supply  I  have 
known  of  from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  dollars  a 
month  being  thus  "blown"  from  the  sweepings  of  a  bar. 

We  ate  a  frugal  breakfast  and  separated  on  the  agreed 
business  of  the  day.  Yank  started  for  the  water  front  to 
make  inquiries  as  to  ways  of  getting  to  the  mines;  Talbot 
set  off  at  a  businesslike  pace  for  the  hotel  as  though  he 
knew  fully  \  hat  he  was  about;  Johnny  wandered  rather 
aimlessly  to  the  east;  and  I  as  aimlessly  to  the  west. 

It  took  me  just  one  hour  to  discover  that  I  could  get  all 
of  any  kind  of  work  that  any  dozen  men  could  do,  and  at 
wages  so  high  that  at  first  I  had  to  ask  over  and  over  again 
to  make  sure  I  had  heard  aright.  Only  none  of  them  would 
bring  me  in  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  by  evening. 
The  further  I  looked  into  that  proposition,  the  more  absurd, 

104 


I    MAKE    TWENTY-FIVE    DOLLARS 

of  course,  I  saw  it  to  be.  I  could  earn  from  twenty  to  fifty 
dollars  by  plain  day-labour  at  some  jobs;  or  I  could  get 
fabulous  salaries  by  the  month  or  year;  but  that  was 
different.  After  determining  this  to  my  satisfaction  I  came 
to  the  sensible  conclusion  that  I  would  make  what  I  could. 

The  first  thing  that  caught  my  eye  after  I  had  come  to 
this  decision  was  a  wagon  drawn  by  four  mules  coming  down 
the  street  at  a  sucking  walk.  The  sight  did  not  impress  me 
particularly;  but  every  storekeeper  came  out  from  his  shop 
and  every  passerby  stopped  to  look  with  respect  as  the 
outfit  wallowed  along.  It  was  driven  by  a  very  large, 
grave,  blond  man  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 

"That's  John  A.  McGlynn,"  said  a  man  next  my  elbow. 

"Who's  he?"  I  asked. 

The  man  looked  at  me  in  astonishment. 

"Don't  know  who  John  McGlynn  is?"  he  demanded. 
"  When  did  you  get  here?  " 

"Last  night." 

"  Oh !  Well,  John  has  the  only  American  wagon  in  town. 
Brought  it  out  from  New  York  in  pieces,  and  put  it  to- 
gether himself.  Broke  four  wild  California  mules  to  drag 
her.    He's  a  wonder!" 

I  could  not,  then,  see  quite  how  this  exploit  made  him 
such  a  wonder;  but  on  a  sudden  inspiration  I  splashed  out 
through  the  mud  and  climbed  into  the  wagon. 

McGlynn  looked  back  at  me. 

"Freightin',"  said  he,  "is  twenty  dollars  a  ton;  and  at 
that  rate  it'll  cost  you  about  thirty  dollars,  you  dirty 
hippopotamus.    These  ain't  no  safe-movers,  these  mules  1'^ 

Unmoved,  I  clambered  up  beside  him. 


GOLD 

"I  want  a  job, *'  said  I,  "for  to-day  only. " 

"Do  ye  now?" 

"  Can  you  give  me  one?  " 

"I  can,  mebbe.  And  do  you  understand  the  inner 
aspirations  of  mules,  maybe?  " 

"  I  was  brought  up  on  a  farm. " 

"And  the  principles  of  elementary  navigation  by  dead 
reckoning?'' 

I  looked  at  him  blankly. 

"I  mean  mudholes,"  he  explained.  "Can  you  keep  out 
of  them?" 

"I  can  try." 

He  pulled  up  the  team,  handed  me  the  reins,  and  clam- 
bered over  the  wheel. 

"You're  hired.  At  six  o'clock  I'll  find  you  and  pay  you 
off.    You  get  twenty-five  dollars. " 

"What  am  I  to  do?" 

"You  go  to  the  shore  and  you  rustle  about  whenever  you 
see  anything  that  looks  like  freight;  and  you  look  at  it,  and 
when  you  see  anything  marked  with  a  diamond  and  an  H 
inside  of  it,  you  pile  it  on  and  take  it  up  to  Howard  Mellin 
&  Company.  And  if  you  can't  Hft  it,  then  leave  it  for 
another  trip,  and  bullyrag  those  skinflints  at  H.  M.  &  Co.'s 
to  send  a  man  down  to  help  you.  And  if  you  don't  know 
where  they  live,  find  out;  and  if  you  bog  them  mules  down 
I'll  skin  you  aHve,  big  as  you  are.  And  anyway,  you're  a 
fool  to  be  working  in  this  place  for  twenty-five  dollars  a 
day,  which  is  one  reason  I'm  so  glad  to  find  you  just  now. " 

** What's  that,  John?"  inquired  a  cool,  amused  voice. 
"McGlynn  and  I  looked  around.    A  tall,  perfectly  dressed 

T06 


I    MAKE    TWENTY-FIVE    DOLLARS 

figure  stood  on  the  sidewalk  surveying  us  quizzically.  This 
was  a  smooth-shaven  man  of  perhaps  thirty-five  years  of 
age,  grave  faced,  clean  cut,  with  an  air  of  rather  ponderous 
slow  dignity  that  nevertheless  became  his  style  very  well. 
He  was  dressed  in  tall  white  hat,  a  white  winged  collar,  a 
black  stock,  a  long  tailed  blue  coat  with  gilt  buttons,  an 
embroidered  white  waistcoat,  dapper  buff  trousers,  and 
varnished  boots.  He  carried  a  polished  cane  and  wore 
several  heavy  pieces  of  gold  jewellery  —  a  watch  fob,  a  scarf- 
pin,  and  the  like.  His  movements  were  leisurely,  his  voice 
low.  It  seemed  to  me,  then,  that  somehow  the  perfection 
of  his  appointments  and  the  calm  deliberation  of  his  move- 
ment made  him  more  incongruous  and  remarkable  than  did 
the  most  bizarre  whims  of  the  miners. 

"Is  it  yourself.  Judge  Girvin?"  replied  McGlynn,  *'I'm 
just  telling  this  young  man  that  he  can't  have  the  job  of 
driving  my  little  California  canaries  for  but  one  day  because 
I've  hired  a  fine  lawyer  from  the  East  at  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  a  month  to  drive  my  mules  for  me. " 

"You  have  done  well,'*  Judge  Girvin  in  his  grave,  cour- 
teous tones.  "For  the  whole  business  of  a  lawyer  is  to 
know  how  to  manage  mules  and  asses  so  as  to  make  them 
pay!" 

I  drove  to  the  beach,  and  speedily  charged  my  wagon 
with  as  large  a  load  as  prudence  advised  me.  The  firm  of 
Howard  Mellin  &  Company  proved  to  have  quarters  in  a 
frame  shack  on  what  is  now  Montgomery  Street.  It  was 
only  a  short  haul,  but  a  muddy  one.  Nearly  opposite  their 
store  a  new  wharf  was  pushing  its  way  out  into  the  bay. 
I  could  see  why  this  and  other  firms  clung  so  tenaciously  to 

107 


GOLD 

their  locations  on  rivers  of  bottomless  mud  in  preference 
to  moving  up  into  the  drier  part  of  town. 

I  enjoyed  my  day  hugely.  My  eminent  position  on  the 
driver's  seat  —  eminent  both  actually  and  figuratively  — 
gave  me  a  fine  opportunity  to  see  the  sights  and  to  enjoy 
the  homage  men  seemed  inclined  to  accord  the  only  wagon 
in  town.  The  feel  of  the  warm  air  was  most  grateful. 
Such  difficulties  as  offered  served  merely  to  add  zest  to  the 
job.  At  noon  I  ate  some  pilot  bread  and  a  can  of  sar- 
dines bought  from  my  employers.  About  two  o'clock  the 
wind  came  up  from  the  sea,  and  the  air  filled  with  the 
hurrying  clouds  of  dust. 

In  my  journeys  back  and  forth  I  had  been  particularly 
struck  by  the  bold,  rocky  hill  that  shut  off  the  \dew  tow^ard 
the  north.  Atop  this  hill  had  been  rigged  a  two-armed 
semaphore,  which,  one  of  the  clerks  told  me,  was  used  to 
signal  the  sight  of  ships  coming  in  the  Golden  Gate.  The 
arms  were  variously  arranged  according  to  the  rig  or  kind 
of  vessel.  Every  man,  every  urchin,  every  Chinaman,  even, 
knew  the  meaning  of  these  various  signals.  A  year  later, 
I  was  attending  a  theatrical  performance  in  the  Jenny  Lind 
Theatre  on  the  Plaza.  In  the  course  of  the  play  an  actor 
rushed  on  frantically  holding  his  arms  outstretched  in  a 
particularly  wooden  fashion,  and  uttering  the  lines,  *'What 
means  this,  my  lord!" 

"A  side  wheel  steamer!"  piped  up  a  boy's  voice  from  the 
gallery. 

Well,  about  three  o'clock  of  this  afternoon,  as  I  was 
about  delivering  my  fifth  load  of  goods,  I  happened  to  look 
up  just  as  the  semaphore  arms  hovered  on  the  rise.    It 

io8 


T    MAKE    TWENTY-FIVE    DOLLARS 

seemed  that  every  man  on  the  street  must  have  been 
looking  in  the  same  direction,  for  instantly  a  great  shout 
went  up. 

^ '  A  side wheeel  steamer !    The  Oregon  I ' ' 

At  once  the  streets  were  alive  with  men  hurrying  from 
all  directions  toward  the  black  rocks  at  the  foot  of  Telegraph 
Hill,  where,  it  seems,  the  steamer's  boats  were  expected 
to  land.  Flags  were  run  up  on  all  sides,  firearms  were  let 
off,  a  warship  in  the  harbour  broke  out  her  bunting  and  fired 
a  salute.  The  decks  of  the  steamer,  as  she  swept  into  view, 
were  black  with  men;  her  yards  were  gay  with  colour. 
Uptown  some  devoted  soul  was  ringing  a  bell;  and  turning 
it  away  over  and  over,  to  judge  by  the  sounds.  I  pulled 
up  my  mules  and  watched  the  vessel  swing  down  through 
the  ranks  of  the  shipping  and  come  to  anchor.  We  had 
beaten  out  our  comrades  by  a  day ! 

At  ^.ve  o'clock  a  small  boy  boarded  me. 

"  You're  to  drive  the  mules  up  to  McGlynn's  and  unhitch 
them  and  leave  them,"  said  he.  'T'm  to  show  you  the 
way. " 

"Where's  McGlynn?"  I  asked. 

"He's  getting  his  mail." 

We  drove  to  a  corral  and  three  well-pitched  tents  down 
in  the  southern  edge  of  town.  Here  a  sluggish  stream  lost 
its  way  in  a  swamp  of  green  hummocky  grass.  I  turned 
out  the  mules  in  the  corral  and  hung  up  the  harness. 

"McGlynn  says  you're  to  go  to  the  post-office  and  he'll 
pay  you  there, "  my  guide  instructed  me. 

The  post-office  proved  to  be  a  low  adobe  one-story 
building,  with  the  narrow  veranda  typical  of  its  kind.    A 

K)9 


GOLD 

line  of  men  extended  from  its  door  and  down  the  street  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Some  of  them  had  brought 
stools  or  boxes,  and  were  comfortably  reading  scraps  of 
paper. 

I  walked  down  the  line.  A  dozen  from  the  front  I  saw 
Johnny  standing.  This  surprised  me,  for  I  knew  he  could 
not  expect  mail  by  this  steamer.  Before  I  had  reached  him 
he  had  finished  talking  to  a  stranger,  and  had  yielded  his 
place. 

"Hullo ! "  he  greeted  me.    " How  you  getting  on? " 

"So-so! "  I  replied.  "I^m  looking  for  a  man  who  owes 
me  twenty-five  dollars. " 

"Well,  he's  here,"  said  Johnny  confidently.  "Everybody 
in  town  is  here.  '^ 

We  found  McGlynn  in  line  about  a  block  down  the  street. 
When  he  saw  me  coming  he  pulled  a  fat  buckskin  bag 
from  his  breeches  pocket,  opened  its  mouth,  and  shook  a 
quantity  of  its  contents,  by  guess,  into  the  palm  of  his  hand. 

"There  you  are,"  said  he;  "that's  near  enough.  I'm  a 
pretty  good  guesser.  I  hope  you  took  care  of  the  mules  all 
right;  you  ought  to,  you're  from  a  farm. " 

"I  fixed  'em." 

"And  the  mud?    How  many  times  did  you  get  stuck?  " 

"NotataU." 

He  looked  at  me  with  surprise. 

"Would  you  think  of  that,  now!"  said  he.  "You  must 
have  loaded  her  light. " 

"I  did.'' 

"Did  you  get  all  the  goods  over?" 

"Yes." 


I    MAKE    TWENTY-FIVE    DOLLARS 

"Well,  I'll  acknowledge  you're  a  judgematical  young 
man;  and  if  you  want  a  job  with  me  I'll  let  that  lawyer  go 
I  spoke  to  the  judge  about.  He  handed  it  to  me  then, 
didn't  he?"  He  laughed  heartily.  "No?  Well,  you're 
right.  A  man's  a  fool  to  work  for  any  one  but  himself. 
Where's  your  bag?  Haven't  any?  How  do  you  carry 
your  dust?  Haven't  any?  I  forgot;  you're  a  tenderfoot,  of 
course. "  He  opened  his  buckskin  sack  with  his  teeth,  and 
poured  back  the  gold  from  the  palm  of  his  hand.  Then  he 
searched  for  a  moment  in  all  his  pockets,  and  produced  a 
most  peculiar  chunk  of  gold  metal.  It  was  nearly  as  thick 
as  it  was  wide,  shaped  rouglily  into  an  octagon,  and  stamped 
with  initials.    This  he  handed  to  me. 

"It's  about  a  fifty-dollar  slug,"  said  he,  "you  can  get 
it  weighed.     Give  me  the  change  next  time  you  see  me. " 

"But  I  may  leave  for  the  mines  to-morrow, "  I  objected. 

"Then  leave  the  change  with  Jim  Recket  of  the  El 
Dorado." 

"How  do  you  know  I'll  leave  it?"  I  asked  curiously. 

"I  don't,"  replied  McGlynn  bluntly.  "But  if  you  need 
twenty-five  dollars  worse  than  you  do  a  decent  conscience, 
then  John  A.  McGlynn  isn't  the  man  to  deny  you!" 

Johnny  and  I  left  for  the  hotel. 

"I  didn't  know  you  expected  any  mail, "  said  I. 

"I  don't."  , 

"But  thought  I  saw  you  in  line " 

"Oh,  yes.  When  I  saw  the  mail  sacks,  it  struck  me  that 
there  might  be  quite  a  crowd;  so  I  came  up  as  quickly  as  I 
could  and  got  in  line.  There  were  a  number  before  me, 
but  I  got  a  place  pretty  well  up  in  front.    Sold  the  place 

III 


GOLD 

for  five  dollars,  and  only  had  to  stand  there  about  an  hour 
at  that." 

''  Good  head !  **  I  admired.  ^'  I'd  never  have  thought  of  it. 
How  have  you  gotten  on?  " 

''Pretty  rotten,"  confessed  Johnny.  "I  tried  all  morn- 
ing to  find  a  decent  opportunity  to  do  something  or  deal  in 
something,  and  then  I  got  mad  and  plunged  in  for  odd  jobs. 
I've  been  a  regular  errand  boy.  I  made  two  dollars  carry- 
ing  a  man's  bag  up  from  the  ship. " 

"How  much  all  told?" 

"  Fifteen.    I  suppose  you've  got  your  pile. " 

*'That  twenty-five  you  saw  me  get  is  the  size  of  it. " 

Johnny  brightened;  we  moved  up  closer  in  a  new  intimacy 
and  sense  of  comradeship  over  delinquency.  It  relieved 
both  to  feel  that  the  other,  too,  had  failed.  To  enter  the 
Plaza  we  had  to  pass  one  of  the  larger  of  the  gambling 
places. 

"  I'm  going  in  here,"  said  Johnny,  suddenly. 

He  swung  through  the  open  doors,  and  I  followed  him. 

The  place  was  comparatively  deserted,  owing  probably 
to  the  distribution  of  mail.  We  had  full  space  to  look 
about  us;  and  I  was  never  more  astonished  in  my  life.  The 
outside  of  the  building  was  rough  and  unfinished  as  a  barn, 
having  nothing  but  size  to  attract  or  recommend.  The 
interior  was  the  height  of  lavish  luxurv.  A  polished  ma- 
hogany bar  ran  down  one  side,  backed  by  huge  gilt  framed 
mirrors  before  which  were  pyramided  fine  glasses  and  bot- 
tles of  liquor.  The  rest  of  the  wall  space  was  thickly  hung 
with  more  plate  mirrors,  dozens  of  well-executed  oil  paint- 
ings, and  strips  of  tapestry.    At  one  end  was  a  small  raised 

112 


I    MAKE    TWENTY-FIVE    DOLLARS 

stage  on  which  lolled  half-dozen  darkies  with  banjos  and 
tambourines.  The  floor  was  covered  with  a  thick  velvet 
carpet.  Easy  chairs,  some  of  them  leather  upholstered, 
stood  about  in  every  available  corner.  Heavy  chandeliers 
of  glass,  with  hundreds  of  dangling  crystals  and  prisms, 
hung  from  the  ceiling.  The  gambling  tables,  a  half  dozen 
in  number,  were  arranged  in  the  open  floor  space  in  the 
centre.  Altogether  it  was  a  most  astounding  contrast  in 
its  sheer  luxury  and  gorgeous  furnishing  to  the  crudity  of 
the  town.  I  became  acutely  conscious  of  my  muddy  boots, 
my  old  clothes,  my  unkempt  hair,  my  red  shirt  and  the 
armament  strapped  about  my  waist. 

A  relaxed,  subdued  air  of  idleness  pervaded  the  place. 
The  gamblers  lounged  back  of  their  tables,  sleepy-eyed  and 
listless.  On  tall  stools  their  lookouts  yawned  behind  papers. 
One  of  these  was  a  woman,  yoimg,  pretty,  most  attractive 
in  the  soft,  flaring,  flouncy  costume  of  that  period.  A  small 
group  of  men  stood  at  the  bar.  One  of  the  barkeepers  was 
mixing  drinks,  pouring  the  Hquid,  at  arm^s  length  from  one 
tumbler  to  another  in  a  long  parabolic  curve,  and  without 
spilling  a  drop.  Only  one  table  was  doing  business,  and 
that  w^ith  only  three  players.  Johnny  pushed  rapidly 
toward  this  table,  and  I,  a  Httle  diffidently,  followed. 

The  game  was  roulette.  Johnny  and  the  dealer  evidently 
recognized  each  other,  for  a  flash  of  the  eye  passed  between 
them,  but  they  gave  no  other  sign.  Johnny  studied  the 
board  a  moment  then  laid  twenty-two  dollars  in  coin  on  one 
of  the  numbers.  The  other  players  laid  out  small  bags 
of  gold  dust.  The  wheel  spun,  and  the  ball  rolled.  Two  of 
the  men  lost;  their  dust  was  emptied  into  a  drawer  beneati' 

"3 


GOLD 

the  table  and  the  bags  tossed  back  to  them.  The  third  had 
won;  the  dealer  deftly  estimated  the  weight  of  his  bet, 
lifting  it  in  the  flat  of  his  left  hand;  then  spim  several  gold 
pieces  toward  the  winner.  He  seemed  quite  satisfied.  Th^ 
gambler  stacked  a  roll  of  twenty-dollar  pieces,  added  one  to 
them,  and  thrust  them  at  Johnny.  I  had  not  realized  that 
the  astounding  luck  of  winning  off  a  single  number  had 
befallen  him. 

"Ten  to  one  —  two  hxmdred  and  twenty  dollars!"  he 
muttered  to  me. 

The  other  three  players  were  laying  their  bets  for  the 
next  turn  of  the  wheel.  Johnny  swept  the  gold  pieces  into 
bis  pocket,  and  laid  back  the  original  stake  against  even. 
He  lost.  Thereupon  he  promptly  arose  and  left  the 
building. 


"4 


CHAPTER  Xn 
TALBOT  DESERTS 

I  followed  him  to  the  hotel  somewhat  gloomily;  for  I  was 
now  the  only  member  of  our  party  who  had  not  made  good 
the  agreed  amount  of  the  partnership.  It  is  significant 
that  never  for  a  moment  did  either  Johnny  or  myself  doubt 
that  Talbot  would  have  the  required  siun.  Johnny,  his 
spirits  quite  recovered,  whistled  like  a  lark. 

We  arrived  just  in  time  for  the  first  supper  call,  and 
found  Talbot  and  Yank  awaiting  us.  Yank  was  as  cool  and 
taciturn,  and  nodded  to  us  as  indifferently,  as  ever.  Talbot, 
however,  was  full  of  excitement.  His  biscuit-brown  com- 
plexion had  darkened  and  flushed  until  he  was  almost 
Spanish-black,  and  the  little  devils  in  his  eyes  led  a  merry 
dance  between  the  surface  and  unguessed  depths.  He  was 
also  exceedingly  voluble;  and,  as  usual  when  in  that  mood, 
aggravatingly  indirect.  He  joked  and  teased  and  carried 
on  like  a  small  boy;  and  insisted  on  ordering  an  elaborate 
dinner  and  a  bottle  of  champagne,  in  the  face  of  even 
Johnny's  scandalized  expostulations.  When  Johnny  pro- 
tested against  expenditure,  it  was  time  to  look  out! 

*'This  is  on  me!  This  is  my  party!  Dry  up,  Johnny!" 
cried  Talbot.  "Fill  your  glasses.  Drink  to  the  new  enter- 
prise; the  Undertakers'  Mining  Company,  Unlimited." 

"'Undertakers?"  I  echoed. 

"5 


GOLD 

"Well,  you  all  look  it.  CaU  it  the  Gophers,  then. 
Capital  stock  just  eight  hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  fully 
subscribed.  I  suppose  it  is  fully  subscribed,  gentlemen? '^ 
He  scrutinized  us  closely.  "Ah,  Frank!  I  see  we'll  have  to 
take  your  promissory  note.  But  the  artistic  certificates 
are  not  yet  home  from  the  engravers.  Take  your  time. 
Maybe  a  relative  will  die. " 

"Talbot,"  said  I  disgustedly,  "if  I  hadn't  happened 
to  smell  your  breath  before  supper  I'd  think  you 
drunk." 

"I  am  drunk,  old  deacon,"  rejoined  Talbot,  "but  with 
the  Wine  of  Enchantment  —  do  you  know  your  Persian? 
No?    Well,  then,  this: 

"Drink  to  me  only  with  thine  eyes, 
And  I'll  not  ask  for  wine!" 

"A  woman!"  grumbled  the  literal  Yank. 

^'The  best,  the  most  capricious,  the  most  beautiful 
woman  in  the  world,"  cried  Talbot,  "whose  smile  intoxi- 
cates, whose  frown  drives  to  despair." 

"What  are  you  driveUing  about?"  I  demanded. 

"The  goddess  fortune  —  what  else?  But  come,"  and 
Talbot  rose  with  a  sudden  and  startling  transition  to  the 
calm  and  businesslike.  "We  can  smoke  outside;  and  we 
must  hear  each  other's  reports. " 

He  paid  for  the  dinner,  steadfastly  refusing  to  let  us  bear 
our  share.  I  noticed  that  he  had  acquired  one  of  the  usual 
buckskin  sacks,  and  shook  the  yellow  dust  from  the  mouth 
of  it  to  the  pan  of  the  gold  scales  with  quite  an  accustomed 
air 

ii6 


TALBOT  DESERTS 

We  lit  our  pipes  and  sat  down  at  one  end  of  the  veranda, 
where  we  would  not  be  interrupted. 

''Fire  ahead,  Yank,''  advised  Talbot. 

''There's  two  ways  of  going  to  the  mines,"  said  Yank: 
"One  is  to  go  overland  by  horses  to  Sutter's  Fort  or  the 
new  town  of  Sacramento,  and  then  up  from  there  into  the 
foothills  of  the  big  mountains  way  yonder.  The  other  is 
to  take  a  boat  and  go  up  river  to  Sacramento  and  then  pack 
across  with  horses. " 

"How  much  is  the  river  fare? "  asked  Talbot. 

"You  have  to  get  a  sailboat.  It  costs  about  forty 
dollars  apiece." 

"How  long  would  it  take?" 

"Four  or  five  days." 

"And  how  long  from  here  to  Sutter's  Fort  by 
horse?" 

"About  the  same." 

"Depends  then  on  whether  horses  are  cheaper  here  or 
there." 

"They  are  cheaper  there;  or  we  can  get  our  stuff  freighted 
in  by  Greasers  and  hoof  it  ourselves. " 

"Then  I  should  think  we  ought  to  have  a  boat. " 

"I  got  one, "  said  Yank. 

"Good  for  you!"  cried  Talbot.  "You're  a  man  after 
my  own  heart!    Well,  Johnny?" 

Johnny  told  his  tale,  a  Httle  proudly  and  produced  his 
required  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars. 

"You  had  luck,"  said  Talbot  non-committally,  "and  you 
ran  a  strong  risk  of  coming  back  here  without  a  cent,  didn't 
you?    I  want  to  ask  you  one  question,  Johimy.    If  you  had 

117 


GOLD 

lost,  would  you  have  been  willing  to  have  taken  the  con- 
sequences? " 

"What  do  you  mean? "  asked  Johnny  blankly. 

**  Would  you  have  been  willing  to  have  dropped  out  of 
this  partnership?" 

Johnny  stared. 

"I  mean,"  said  Talbot  kindly,  "that  you  had  no  right 
to  try  to  get  this  money  by  merely  a  gambler's  chance 
unless  you  were  willing  to  accept  the  logical  result  if  you 
failed.     It  isn't  fair  to  the  rest  of  us. " 

"I  see  what  you  mean,"  said  Johnny  slowly.  "No;  I 
hadn't  thought  of  it  that  way. " 

"Well,  as  I  said,  you  had  luck,"  repeated  Talbot  cheer- 
fully, "so  we  needn't  think  of  it  further."  It  was  char^ 
acteristic  that  Johnny  took  this  veiled  rebuke  from  Talbo^ 
Ward  in  a  meek  and  chastened  spirit;  from  any  one  else 
his  high  temper  could  never  stand  even  a  breath  of  criticism. 
"How  about  you,  Frank?"  Talbot  asked  me. 

I  detailed  my  experiences  in  a  very  few  words  and  ex- 
hibited my  gold  slug. 

"That's  the  best  I  can  do,"  I  ended,  "and  haK  of  that 
does  not  belong  to  me.  I  can,  however,  in  a  few  days 
scrape  up  the  full  amount;  there  is  plenty  to  do  here.  And 
barring  bull  luck,  like  Johnny's,  I  don't  see  much  show  of 
beating  that,  unless  a  man  settled  down  to  stay  here. " 

Talbot  stared  at  me,  ruminatively,  until  I  began  to  get 
restive.  Then  he  withdrew  his  eyes.  He  made  no  com- 
ment. 

"I  suppose  you  have  your  money,"  suggested  Yank  to 
him,  after  a  pause. 

1x8 


TALBOT    DESERTS 

"Oh  —  yes,"  said  Talbot  as  though  awaking  from  pro- 
found reverie. 

"Well,  tell  us  about  it.  How  did  you  get  it?  How  long 
did  it  take  you?  " 

"About  half  an  hour.  I  figured  that  everybody  in  a 
place  like  this  would  be  wanting  news.  So  I  sorted  out  that 
bundle  of  old  newspapers  you  fellows  were  always  laughing 
at,  and  I  went  out  and  sold  them.  Lucky  I  got  busy  with 
them  early;  for  I  don't  doubt  the  arrival  of  the  Oregon 
broke  the  market. " 

"How  much  did  you  get  for  them?"  asked  Johnny. 

"A  dollar  apiece  for  most,  and  fifty  cents  for  the  rest. 
I  came  out  two  hundred  and  seventy  dollars  ahead  all  told. 
That,  with  Frank's  and  my  ten  dollars,  gave  me  sixty 
dollars  above  the  necessary  amount. " 

Johnny  arose  and  kicked  himself  solemnly. 

"For  not  guessing  what  newspapers  were  good  for,"  he 
explained.  "Go  on!  What  next?  What  did  you  do  with 
the  rest  of  the  day?  " 

Talbot  leaned  forward,  and  all  the  animation  of  the 
dinner  table  returned  to  his  manner  and  to  his  face. 

"Boys,"  said  he  earnestly,  "this  is  the  most  wonderful 
town  that  has  ever  been !  There  has  been  nothing  like  it 
in  the  past;  and  there  will  never  be  anything  like  it  again. 
After  I  had  sold  put  my  papers  I  went  wandering  across  the 
Plaza  with  my  hands  in  my  pockets.  Next  the  El  Dorado 
there  is  a  hole  in  the  ground.  It  isn't  much  of  a  hole,  and 
the  edges  are  all  caving  in  because  it  is  sandy.  While  I 
was  looking  at  it  two  men  came  along.  One  was  the  owner 
of  the  hole,  and  the  other  said  he  was  a  lawyer.    The  owner 

X19 


GOLD 

offered  to  rent  the  hole  to  the  lawyer  for  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  a  month;  and  the  lawyer  was  inclined  to  take 
him  up.  After  they  had  gone  on  I  paced  off  the  hole, 
just  for  fun.  It  was  twelve  feet  square  by  about  six  feet 
deep !  Then  I  walked  on  down  toward  the  water  front,  and 
talked  with  all  the  storekeepers.  They  do  a  queer  business. 
All  these  goods  we  see  around  came  out  here  on  consign- 
ment. The  local  storekeepers  have  a  greater  or  lesser  share 
and  sell  mainly  on  commission.  Since  they  haven't  any 
adequate  storehouses,  and  can't  get  any  put  up  again,  they 
sell  the  stuff  mainly  at  auction  and  get  rid  of  it  as  quickly 
as  possible.  That's  why  some  things  are  so  cheap  they  can 
make  pavements  of  them  when  a  ship  happens  to  come  in 
loaded  with  one  article.  I  talked  with  some  of  them  and 
told  them  they  ought  to  warehouse  a  lot  of  this  stuff  so  as  to 
keep  it  over  until  the  market  steadied.  They  agreed  with 
that;  but  pointed  out  that  they  were  putting  up  warehouses 
as  fast  as  they  could  —  which  wasn't  very  fast  —  and  in 
the  meantime  the  rains  and  dust  were  destroying  their 
goods.     It  was  cheaper  to  sell  at  auction.  '^ 

^''And  a  heap  more  exciting,"  put  in  Johnny.  "I  went 
to  one  of  them. " 

"Well,  I  wandered  down  to  the  shore,  and  looked  out 
over  the  bay.  It  was  full  of  shipping,  riding  high  at  anchor. 
I  had  an  idea.  I  hired  a  boat  for  five  dollars,  and  rowed  out 
to  some  of  the  ships.  Believe  me  or  not,  most  of  them  were 
empty;  not  even  a  watchman  aboard!  I  found  some  of  the 
captains,  however,  and  talked  with  each  of  them.  They 
all  told  the  same  story. " 

*' Crews  skipped  to  the  mines,  I  suppose?"  said  Yank. 

ZiO 


TALBOT  DESERTS 

"Exactly.  And  they  couldnH  get  any  more.  So  I 
offered  to  hire  a  few  of  them. " 

*'The  captains?"  I  inquired. 

"No;  the  ships." 

"The  what?  "  we  yelled  in  chorus. 

"The  ships." 

"But  if  the  captains  can't  get  crews " 

"Oh,  I  don't  want  to  sail  them,"  went  on  Talbot  im- 
patiently. "It  was  hard  work  getting  them  to  agree;  they 
all  cherished  notions  they  could  get  crews  and  go  sailing 
some  more  —  good  old  salts!  But  I  hired  four,  at  last. 
Had  to  take  them  for  only  a  month,  however;  and  had  to 
pay  them  in  advance  five  hundred  apiece. " 

"I  beg  pardon,"  said  Johnny  softly,  "for  interrupting 
your  pleasing  tale;  but  the  last  item  interested  me.  I  do 
not  know  whether  I  quite  heard  it  right. " 

"Oh,  shut  up,  Johnny,"  said  Yank;  "let  the  man  tell  his 
story.  Of  course  he  didn't  have  the  money  in  his  pocket. 
How  did  you  get  it,  Tal?  " 

Ward  shot  him  a  grateful  glance. 

"I  told  them  I'd  pay  them  at  four  o'clock  which  gave  me 
plenty  of  time. " 

"Two  thousand  dollars  —  oh,  of  course!"  murmured 
Johnny. 

"So  then,"  continued  Talbot,  "I  hustled  ashore;  and 
went  to  see  some  of  my  merchant  friends.  In  two  hours 
I  had  contracts  with  twelve  of  them  that  totalled  six  thou- 
sand dollars. " 

"Why  didn't  some  of  them  go  out  and  hire  ships  on  their 
own  account?"  asked  Yank  shrewdly. 

xai 


GOLD 

'^ Because  I  didn't  mention  the  word  'ship'  until  I  had 
their  business,"  said  Talbot.  "I  just  guaranteed  them 
storage,  waterproof,  practically  fireproof,  dustproof,  and 
within  twenty-four  hours.  I  guess  most  of  them  thought 
I  was  crazy.  But  as  it  didn't  cost  them  anything,  they 
were  wilHng  to  take  a  chance. " 

"Then  you  didn't  raise  your  ten  thousand  dollars  from 
them  in  advance  payments!"  I  marvelled. 

''Certainly  not.  That  would  have  scared  off  the  whole 
lot  of  them.  But  I  got  their  agreements;  I  told  you  it  took 
me  two  hours.  Then  I  walked  up  the  street  figuring  where 
I'd  get  the  money.  Of  course  I  saw  I'd  have  to  divide  the 
profits.  I  didn't  know  anybody;  but  after  a  while  I 
decided  that  the  best  chance  was  to  get  some  advice  from 
honest  and  disinterested  man.  So  I  asked  the  first  man  I 
met  who  ran  the  biggest  gambling  place  in  town.  He  told 
me  Jim  Recket." 

"Jim  Recket?  "  I  echoed.  "He's  the  man  I  was  to  leave 
change  for  my  gold  slug  with. " 

"Recket  keeps  the  El  Dorado,  next  door  in  the  tent. 
He  impressed  me  as  a  very  quiet,  direct,  square  sort  of  a 
fellow.  The  best  type  of  professional  gambler,  in  matters 
of  this  sort,  generally  is. 

"'I  am  looking  for  a  man,'  said  I,  *who  has  a  little  idle 
money,  some  time,  no  gold-mining  fever,  plenty  of  nerve, 
and  a  broad  mind.    Can  you  tell  me  who  he  is?' 

"He  thought  a  minute  and  then  answered  direct,  as  I 
knew  he  would. 

"'Sam  Brannan,'  he  said. 

"'Tell  me  about  him.' 

122 


TALBOT     DESERTS 

"'To  take  up  your  points/  said  Recket,  checking  off  his 
fingers,  'he  came  out  with  a  shipload  of  Mormons  as  their 
head,  and  he  collected  tithes  from  them  for  over  a  year; 
that's  your  idle  money.  He  has  all  the  time  the  Lord 
stuck  into  one  day  at  a  clip;  that's  your  "some  time." 
He  has  been  here  in  the  city  since  '48  which  would  seem 
to  show  he  doesn't  care  much  for  mining.  He  collected 
the  tithes  from  those  Mormons,  and  sent  word  to  Brigham 
Young  that  if  he  wanted  the  money  to  come  and  get  it. 
That's  for  your  nerve.  As  for  being  broad  minded  — 
well,  when  a  delegation  of  the  Mormons,  all  ready  for  a 
scrap,  came  to  him  solemnly  to  say  that  they  were  going  to 
refuse  to  pay  him  the  tithes  any  more,  even  if  he  was  the 
California  head  of  the  church,  he  laughed  them  off  the 
place  for  having  been  so  green  as  to  pay  them  as  long  as 
they  had.' 

"I  found  Sam  Brannan,  finally,  at  the  bar  in  Dennison's 
Exchange." 

"What  was  he  like?"  asked  Johnny  eagerly.  "I'll  bet 
I  heard  his  name  fifty  times  to-day." 

"He  is  a  thickset,  jolly  looking,  curly  headed  fellow, 
with  a  thick  neck,  a  bulldog  jaw,  and  a  big  voice,"  replied 
Talbot.  "Of  course  he  tried  to  bully  me,  but  when  that 
didn't  work,  he  came  down  to  business.  We  entered  into 
an  agreement. 

"Brannan  was  to  furnish  the  money,  and  take  half  the 
profits,  provided  he  liked  the  idea.  When  we  had  settled 
it  all,  I  told  him  my  scheme.  He  thought  it  over  a  while 
and  came  in.  Then  we  rowed  off  and  paid  the  captains  of 
the  ships.    It  was  necessary  now  to  get  them  warped  in 

123 


GOLD 

at  high  tide,  of  course,  but  Sam  Brannan  said  he'd  see 
to  that  —  he  has  some  sort  of  a  pull  with  the  natives, 
enough  to  get  a  day's  labour,  anyway." 

"Warp  them  in?"  I  echoed. 

''Certainly.  You  couldn't  expect  the  merchants  to 
lighter  their  stuff  off  in  boats  always.  We'll  beach  these 
ships  at  high  tide,  and  then  run  some  sort  of  Hght  cause- 
way out  to  them.  There's  no  surf,  and  the  bottom  is 
soft.  It'll  cost  us  something,  of  course;  but  Sam  and  I 
figure  we  ought  to  divide  three  thousand  clear." 

''I'd  like  to  ask  a  question  or  so,"  said  I.  "What's  to 
prevent  the  merchants  doing  this  same  hiring  of  ships 
for  themselves?  " 

"Nothing,"  said  Talbot,  "after  the  first  month." 

"And  what  prevented  Brannan,  after  he  had  heard  your 
scheme,  from  going  out  on  his  own  hook,  and  pocketing  all 
the  proceeds?" 

"You  don't  understand,  Frank,"  said  Talbot  impatiently. 
"Men  of  our  stamp  don't  do  those  things."  ^ 

"Oh!"  said  I. 

"This,"  said  Johnny,  "made  it  about  two  o'clock,  as  I 
figure  your  story.     Did  you  then  take  a  needed  rest?  " 

" Quarter  of  two,"  corrected  Talbot,  "I  was  going  back 
to  the  hotel,  when  I  passed  that  brick  building  —  you 
know,  on  Montgomery  Street.  I  remembered  then  that 
lawyer  and  his  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  a  hole  in 
the  ground.  It  seemed  to  me  there  was  a  terrible  waste 
somewhere.  Here  was  a  big  brick  building  filled  up  with 
nothing  but  goods.  It  might  much  better  be  filled  with 
people.     There  is  plenty  of  room  for  goods  in  those  ships; 

124 


TALBOT  DESERTS 

but  you  can't  very  well  put  people  on  the  ships.  So  I 
just  dropped  in  to  see  them  about  it.  I  offered  to  hire 
the  entire  upper  part  of  the  building;  and  pointed  out  that 
the  lower  part  was  all  they  could  possibly  use  as  a  store. 
They  said  they  needed  the  upper  part  as  storehouse.  I 
offered  to  store  the  goods  in  an  accessible  safe  place. 
Of  course  they  wanted  to  see  the  place;  but  I  wouldn't 
let  on,  naturally,  but  left  it  subject  to  their  approval 
after  the  lease  was  signed.  The  joke  of  it  is  they  were 
way  overstocked  anyway.  Finally  I  made  my  grand 
offer. 

"'Look  here,'  said  I,  'you  rent  me  that  upper  story 
for  a  decent  length  of  time  —  say  a  year  —  and  I'll  buy 
out  the  surplus  stock  you've  got  up  there  at  a  decent 
valuation.'  They  jumped  at  that ;  of  course  they  pretended 
not  to,  but  just  the  same  they  jumped.  I'll  either  sell 
the  stuff  by  auction,  even  if  at  a  sHght  loss,  or  else  I'll 
stick  it  aboard  a  ship.  Depends  a  good  deal  on  what  is 
there,  of  course.  It's  mostly  ba^le  and  box  goods  of  some 
sort  or  another.  I've  got  an  inventory  in  my  pocket. 
Haven't  looked  at  it  yet.  Then  I'll  partition  off  that 
wareroom  and  rent  it  out  for  ojQ&ces  and  so  forth.  There 
are  a  lot  of  lawyers  and  things  in  this  town  just  honing  for 
something  dignified  and  stable.  I  only  pay  three  thousand 
a  month  for  it." 

Johnny  groaned  deeply. 

''Well,"  persisted  Talbot,  "I  figure  on  getting  at  least 
eight  thousand  a  month  out  of  it.  That'll  take  care  of  a 
little  loss  on  the  goods,  if  necessary.  I'm  not  sure  a 
loss  is  necessary." 

"5 


GOLD 

"And  how  much,  about,  are  the  goods?"  I  inquired 
softly. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know.  Somewhere  between  ten  and  twenty 
thousand,  I  suppose." 

"Paid  for  how,  and  when?" 

"One  third  cash,  and  the  rest  in  notes.  The  interest 
out  here  is  rather  high,"  said  Talbot  regretfully. 

"Where  do  you  expect  to  get  the  money?"    I  insisted. 

"Oh,  money!  money!"  cried  Talbot,  throwing  out  his 
arms  with  a  gesture  of  impatience.  "The  place  is  full  of 
money.  It's  pouring  in  from  the  mines,  from  the  world 
outside.    Money's  no  trouble ! " 

He  fell  into  an  intent  reverie,  biting  at  his  short  mous- 
tache.    I  arose  softly  to  my  feet. 

"Johnny,"  said  I,  in  a  strangled  little  voice,  "I've 
got  to  give  back  McGlynn's  change.  Want  to  go  with 
me?" 

We  tiptoed  around  the  corner  of  the  building,  and  fell 
into  each  other's  arms  with  shrieks  of  joy. 

"Oh!"  cried  Johnny  at  last,  wiping  the  tears  from  his 
eyes.     "Money's  no  trouble ! " 

After  we  had  to  some  extent  relieved  our  feeHngs  we 
changed  my  gold  slug  into  dust  —  I  purchased  a  buck- 
skin bag  —  and  went  to  find  McGlynn.  Our  way  to  his 
quarters  led  past  the  post-office,  where  a  long  queue  of  men 
still  waited  patiently  and  quietly  in  Hne.  We  stood  for 
a  few  moments  watching  the  demeanour  of  those  who  had 
received  their  mail,  or  who  had  been  told  there  was  nothing 
for  them.  Some  of  the  latter  were  pathetic,  and  looked 
fairly  dazed  with  grief  and  disappointment. 

126 


TALBOT  DESERTS 

The  letters  were  passed  through  a  small  window  let  in 
the  adobe  of  the  wall;  and  the  men  filed  on  to  the  veranda 
at  one  end  and  off  it  at  the  other.  The  man  distributing 
mail  was  a  small,  pompous,  fat  Englishman.  I  recognized 
McGlynn  coming  slowly  down  with  the  line,  and  paid  him 
half  the  dust  in  my  bag. 

As  McGlynn  reached  the  window,  the  glass  in  it  slammed 
shut,  and  the  clerk  thrust  a  card  against  it. 

*' Mails  close  at  g  p.m.^^ 

McGlynn  tapped  at  the  glass,  received  no  attention,  and 
commenced  to  beat  a  tattoo.  The  window  was  snatched 
open,  and  the  fat  clerk,  very  red,  thrust  his  face  in  the 
opening. 

*' What  do  you  want?  *'  he  demanded  truculently. 

"Any  letters  for  John  A.  McGlyim?" 

"This  office  opens  at  8:30  a.m."  said  the  clerk,  slam- 
ming shut  the  window. 

Without  an  instant's  hesitation,  and  before  the  man  had 
a  chance  to  retire,  McGlynn's  huge  fist  crashed  through 
the  glass  and  into  his  face. 

The  crowd  had  waited  patiently;  but  now,  with  a  brutal 
snarl,  it  surged  forward.  McGlynn,  a  pleasant  smile  on 
his  face,  swung  slowly  about. 

"Keep  your  line,  boys!  Keep  your  line!"  he  boomed. 
"There's  no  trouble!  It's  only  a  little  Englishman  who 
don't  know  our  ways  yet." 

Inside  the  building  the  postal  force,  white  and  scared 
yet  over  the  menacing  growl  of  the  beast  they  had  so  nearly 
roused,  hastened  to  resume  their  tasks.  I  heard  later 
that  the  last  man  in  line  reached  the  window  only  at  three 

191 


GOLD 

o'clock  in  the  morning.  Also  that  next  day  McGlynn  was 
summoned  by  Geary,  then  postmaster,  to  account  for  his 
share  in  the  row;  and  that  in  the  end  Geary  apologized  and 
was  graciously  forgiven  by  McGlynn !    I  can  well  believe  it. 

We  found  Yank  and  Talbot  still  at  the  edge  of  the 
hotel  veranda. 

"Look  here,  Tal!'^  said  Johnny  at  once.  "How  are  you 
going  to  finish  all  this  business  youVe  scared  up,  and  get 
off  to  the  mines  within  a  reasonable  time?  We  ought  to 
start  pretty  soon." 

"Mines?"  echoed  Talbot,  "I^m  not  going  to  the  mines* 
I  wouldn't  leave  all  this  for  a  million  mines.  No:  Yank 
and  I  have  been  talking  it  over.  You  boys  will  have  to 
attend  to  the  mining  end  of  this  business.  I'll  pay  Frank's 
share  and  take  a  quarter  of  the  profits,  and  Frank  can  pay 
me  in  addition  half  his  profits.  In  return  for  the  work  I 
don't  do,  I'll  put  aside  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars 
and  use  it  in  my  business  here,  and  all  of  us  will  share  in  the 
profits  I  make  from  that  amount.  How  does  that  strike 
you?" 

"I  don't  like  to  lose  you  out  of  this,"  said  Johnny 
disappointedly. 

"Nor  I,"  said  L 

"And  I  hate  to  lose  the  adventure,  boys,"  agreed  Talbot 
earnestly.  "But,  honestly,  I  can't  leave  this  place  now 
even  if  I  want  to;  and  I  certainly  don't  want  to." 

I  turned  in  that  night  with  the  feeling  that  I  had  passed 
a  very  interesting  day. 


128 


CHAPTER  Xm 
UP-RIVER 

Two  days  later  Yank,  Johnny,  and  I  embarked  aboard 
a  small  bluff -bowed  sailboat,  waved  our  farewells  to  Talbot 
standing  on  the  shore,  and  laid  our  course  to  cross  the  blue 
bay  behind  an  island  called  Alcatraz.  Our  boatman  was 
a  short,  swarthy  man,  with  curly  hair  and  gold  rings  in 
his  ears.  He  handled  his  boat  well,  but  spoke  not  at  all. 
After  a  dozen  attempts  to  get  something  more  than  mono- 
syllables out  of  him,  we  gave  it  up,  and  settled  ourselves 
to  the  soHd  enjoyment  of  a  new  adventure. 

The  breeze  was  strong,  and  drove  even  our  rather 
clumsy  craft  at  considerable  speed.  The  blue  waters  of 
the  bay  flashed  in  the  sun  and  riffled  under  the  squalls. 
Spray  dashed  away  from  our  bows.  A  chill  raced  in  from 
the  open  Pacific,  diluting  the  sunlight. 

We  stared  ahead  of  us,  all  eyes.  The  bay  was  a  veri- 
table inland  sea;  and  the  shores  ahead  of  us  lay  flat  and 
wide,  with  blue  hazy  hiUs  in  the  distance,  and  a  great 
mountain  hovering  in  midair  to  our  right.  Black  cormo  • 
rants  going  upwind  flapped  heavily  by  us  just  above 
the  water,  their  necks  stretched  out.  Gulls  wheeled  and 
screamed  above  us,  or  floated  high  and  light  Hke  corks 
over  the  racing  waves.  Rafts  of  ducks  lay  bobbing,  their 
D«cks  furled,  their  head  close  to  their  bodies.    A  salt 

I2g 


GOLD 

tang  stirred  our  blood;  and  on  the  great  mountain  just 
north  of  the  harbour  entrance  the  shadows  of  canons  were 
beginning  most  beautifully  to  define  themselves. 

Altogether  it  was  a  pleasant  sail.  We  perched  to 
windward,  and  smoked  our  pipes,  and  worked  ourselves  to 
a  high  pitch  of  enthusiasm  over  what  we  were  going  to  see 
and  do.  The  sailor  too  smoked  his  pipe,  leaning  against 
the  long,  heavy  tiller. 

The  distant  flat  shores  drew  nearer.  We  turned  a 
corner  and  could  make  out  the  mouth  of  a  river,  and  across 
it  a  white  Kne  that,  as  we  came  up  on  it,  proved  to  be 
the  current  breaking  against  the  wind  over  a  very  soHd 
bar.  For  the  first  time  our  sailor  gave  signs  of  life.  He 
stood  on  his  feet,  squinted  ahead,  ordered  us  amidships, 
dropped  the  peak  of  the  mainsail,  took  the  sheet  in  his 
hand.  We  flew  down  against  the  breakers.  In  a  moment 
we  were  in  them.  Two  sickening  bumps  shook  our  very 
vertebrae.  The  mast  swayed  drunkenly  from  side  to  side 
as  the  boat  rolled  on  her  keel,  the  sail  flopped,  a  follow- 
ing wave  slopped  heavily  over  the  stem,  and  the  water 
swashed  forward  across  our  feet.  Then  we  recovered  a 
trifle,  staggered  forward,  bumped  twice  more,  and  sHd 
into  the  smoother  deep  water.  The  sailor  grunted,  and 
passed  us  a  dipper.  We  bailed  her  out  while  he  raised 
again  the  peak  of  his  sail. 

Shortly  after  this  experience  we  glided  up  the  reaches 
©f  a  wide  beautiful  river.  It  had  no  banks,  but  was  bor- 
dered by  the  tall  reeds  called  tules.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  and  that  was  very  far  when  we  climbed  part  way 
up  the  mast  to  look,  these  tules  extended.    League  after 

130 


UP-RIVER 

^.eague  they  ran  away  like  illimitable  pkins,  green  and  brown 
ind  beautiful,  until  somewhere  over  the  curve  of  the  earth 
straight  ahead  they  must  have  met  distant  blue  hills. 
To  the  southeast  there  seemed  no  end  but  the  sky. 

From  the  level  of  the  boat,  however,  we  saw  only  a 
little  way  into  the  outer  fringe.  The  water  lay  among 
the  stalks,  and  mud  hens  with  white  bills  pushed  their 
way  busily  into  intricate  narrow  unguessed  waterways. 
Occasionally  the  hedge  of  the  tules  broke  to  a  greater  or 
lesser  opening  into  a  lagoon.  These  were  hke  shallow  lakes, 
in  which  sometimes  grew  clumps  of  grasses.  They  were 
covered  with  waterfowl.  Never  have  I  seen  so  many 
ducks  and  geese  of  all  kinds.  They  literally  covered  the 
surface  of  the  water,  and  fairly  seemed  to  jostle  each 
other  as  they  swam  busily  to  and  fro,  intent  on  some 
business  of  their  own.  Their  comfortable,  low  conversa- 
tional clucking  and  quacking  was  a  pleasure  to  hear.  When, 
out  of  curiosity,  we  fired  a  revolver  shot,  they  rose  in 
the  air  with  a  roar  Hke  that  of  a  great  w^aterfall,  and  their 
crossing  Hnes  of  flight  in  the  sky  v/as  like  the  multitude 
of  midges  in  the  sun.  I  remember  one  flock  of  snow- 
white  geese  that  turned  and  wheeled,  alternately  throwing 
their  bodies  in  shadow  or  in  the  sunlight,  so  that  they 
flashed  brilliantly. 

As  the  sun  declined,  the  wind  fell.  Fortunately  the 
current  in  the  river  was  hardly  perceptible.  We  slipped 
along  on  glassy  waters.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of 
blackbirds  dipped  across  us  uttering  their  calls.  Against 
a  saffron  sky  were  long  lines  of  waterfowl,  their  necks 
outstretched.    A  busy  multitudinous  noise  of  marsh  birds 

131 


GOLD 

rose  and  fell  all  about  us.  The  sun  was  a  huge  red  ball 
touching  the  distant  hills. 

At  last  the  wind  failed  us  entirely,  but  the  sailor  got 
out  a  pair  of  sweeps,  and  we  took  turns  rowing.  Within 
a  half  hour  we  caught  the  silhouette  of  three  trees  against 
the  sky,  and  shortly  landed  on  a  little  island  of  sollu 
ground.    Here  we  made  camp  for  the  night. 

All  next  day,  and  the  days  after,  being  luckily  favoured 
by  steady  fair  winds,  we  glided  up  the  river.  I  could 
not  but  wonder  at  the  certainty  with  which  our  sailor 
picked  the  right  passage  from  the  numerous  false  channels 
that  offered  themselves.  The  water  was  beautifully  clear 
and  sweet;  quite  different  from  the  muddy  currents  of 
to-day.  Shortly  the  solid  ground  had  drawn  nearer;  so 
that  often  we  passed  long  stretches  of  earth  standing  above 
the  tule-grown  water.  Along  these  strips  grew  sycamore 
and  Cottonwood  trees  of  great  size,  and  hanging  vines  of  the 
wild  grape.  The  trees  were  as  yet  bare  of  leaves,  but 
everything  else  was  green  and  beautiful.  We  could  see 
the  tracks  of  many  deer  along  the  flats,  but  caught  no 
sight  of  the  animals  themselves.  At  one  place,  however, 
we  did  frighten  a  small  band  of  half  a  dozen  elk.  They 
crashed  away  recklessly  through  the  brush,  making  noise 
and  splashing  enough  for  a  hundred.  Yank  threw  one  of 
his  little  pea  bullets  after  them;  and  certainly  hit,  for  we 
found  drops  of  blood.  The  sailor  shook  his  head  dis- 
paragingly over  the  size  of  the  rifle  balls,  to  Yank's  vast 
disgust.  I  never  saw  him  come  nearer  to  losing  his  temper. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  I  think  the  sailor's  contention  had  some- 
thing in  it;  the  long  accurate  weapon  with  its  tiny  missile 

132 


UP-RIVER 

was  probably  all  right  when  its  user  had  a  chance  to  plant 
the  bullet  exactly  in  a  fatal  spot,  but  not  for  such  quick 
snap  shooting  as  this.  At  any  rate  our  visions  of  cheap 
fresh  meat  vanished  on  the  hoof. 

The  last  day  out  we  came  into  a  wide  bottomland  country 
with  oaks.  The  distant  blue  hills  had  grown,  and  had 
become  slate-gray.  At  noon  we  discerned  ahead  of  us  a 
low  bluff,  and  a  fork  in  the  river;  and  among  the  oak  trees 
the  gleam  of  tents,  and  before  them  a  tracery  of  masts 
where  the  boats  and  small  ships  lay  moored  to  the  trees. 
This  was  the  emharcadero  of  Sutter's  Fort  beyond;  or  the 
new  city  of  Sacramento,  whichever  you  pleased.  Here 
our  boat  journey  ended. 

We  disembarked  into  a  welter  of  confusion.  Dust,  men, 
mules,  oxen,  bales,  boxes,  barrels,  and  more  dust.  Every- 
thing was  in  the  open  air.  Tents  were  pitched  in  the  open, 
under  the  great  oaks,  anywhere  and  everywhere.  Next, 
the  river,  and  for  perhaps  a  hundred  yards  from  the  banks, 
the  canvas  structures  were  arranged  in  rows  along  what 
were  evidently  intended  to  be  streets;  but  beyond  that 
every  one  simply  "squatted"  where  he  pleased.  We  tramped 
about  until  we  found  a  clear  space,  and  there  dumped  down 
our  e£fects.  They  were  simple  enough;  and  our  house- 
keeping consisted  in  spreading  our  blankets  and  canvas, 
and  unpacking  our  frying  pan  and  pots.  The  entire  Hst  of 
our  provisions  consisted  of  pork,  flour,  salt,  tea,  coffee, 
sugar,  tobacco,  and  some  spirits. 

After  supper  we  went  out  in  a  body  to  see  what  we  could 
find  out  concerning  our  way  to  the  mines.  We  did  not  even 
possess  a  definite  idea  as  to  where  we  wanted  to  go ! 

133 


GOLD 

In  this  quest  we  ran  across  our  first  definite  discourage- 
ment. The  place  was  full  of  men  and  they  were  all  will- 
ing to  talk.  Fully  three  quarters  were,  like  ourselves, 
headed  toward  the  mines;  and  were  consequently  full  of 
theoretical  advice.  The  less  they  actually  knew  the  more 
insistent  they  were  that  theirs  was  the  only  one  sure  route 
or  locality  or  method.  Of  the  remainder  probably  half 
were  the  permanent  population  of  the  place,  and  busily 
occupied  in  making  what  money  they  could.  They 
were  storekeepers,  gamblers,  wagon  owners,  saloonkeepers, 
transportation  men.  Of  course  we  could  quickly  have  had 
from  most  of  these  men  very  definite  and  practical  advice 
as  to  where  to  go  and  how  to  get  there;  but  the  advice  would 
most  likely  have  been  strongly  tempered  with  self-interest. 
The  rest  of  those  we  encountered  were  on  their  way  back 
from  the  mines.  And  from  them  we  got  our  first  dash  of 
cold  water  in  the  face. 

According  to  them  the  whole  gold-fable  was  vastly 
exaggerated.  To  be  sure  there  was  gold,  no  one  could 
deny  that,  but  it  occurred  very  rarely,  and  in  terrible 
places  to  get  at.  One  had  to  put  in  ten  dollars'  worth  of 
wferk,  to  get  out  one  dollars'  worth  of  dust.  And  provisions 
were  so  high  that  the  cost  of  living  ate  up  all  the  profits. 
Besides,  we  were  much  too  late.  All  the  good  claims  had 
been  taken  up  and  worked  out  by  the  earliest  comers. 
There  was  much  sickness  in  the  mines,  and  men  were  dying 
like  flies.  A  man  was  a  fool  ever  to  leave  home  but  a 
double-dyed  fool  not  to  return  there  as  soon  as  possible. 
Thus  the  army  of  the  discouraged.  There  were  so  many 
of  them,  and  they  talked  so  convincingly,  that  I,  for  one, 

134 


UP-RIVER 

felt  my  golden  dream  dissipating;  and  a  glance  at  Johnny's 
face  showed  that  he  was  much  in  the  same  frame  of  mind. 
We  were  very  yoimg;  and  we  had  so  long  been  keyed  up  so 
high  that  a  reaction  was  almost  inevitable.  Yank  showed 
no  sign;  but  chewed  his  tobacco  imperturbably. 

We  continued  our  inqiiiries,  however,  and  had  soon 
acquired  a  mass  of  varied  information.  The  nearest  mines 
were  about  sixty  miles  away;  we  could  get  our  freight  trans- 
ported that  far  by  the  native  Califomian  cargadores  at 
fifty  dollars  the  hundredweight.  Or  we  could  walk  and 
carry  our  own  goods.  Or  we  might  buy  a  horse  or  so  to 
pack  in  our  belongings.  If  we  wanted  to  talk  to  the 
cargadores  we  must  visit  their  camp  over  toward  the  south; 
if  we  wanted  to  buy  horses  we  could  do  nothing  better  than 
to  talk  to  McClellan,  at  Sutter's  Fort.  Fifty  dollars 
a  hundred  seemed  pretty  steep  for  freighting;  we  would  not 
be  able  to  carry  all  we  owned  on  our  backs;  we  decided  to 
try  to  buy  the  horses. 

Accordingly  next  morning,  after  a  delicious  sleep  under 
the  open  sky,  we  set  out  to  cover  the  three  or  four  miles 
to  Sutter's  Fort. 

This  was  my  first  sight  of  the  California  country  land- 
scape, and  I  saw  it  at  the  most  beautiful  time  of  year. 
The  low-rolling  hills  were  bright  green,  against  which 
blended  the  darker  green  of  the  parklike  oaks.  Over  the 
slopes  were  washes  of  colour  where  the  wild  flowers  grew, 
Hke  bright  scarves  laid  out  in  the  sun.  They  were  of  deep 
orange,  or  an  equally  deep  blue,  or,  perhaps,  of  mingled 
white  and  purple.  Each  variety,  and  there  were  many  of 
them,  seemed  to  grow  by  itself  so  that  the  colours  were 

I3S 


GOLD 

massed.  Johnny  muttered  something  about  "the  trailing 
glory  —  banners  of  the  hills";  but  whether  that  was  a 
quotation  or  just  Johnny  I  do  not  know. 

The  air  was  very  warm  and  grateful,  and  the  sky  ex- 
traordinarily blue.  Broad-pinioned  birds  wheeled  slowly, 
very  high;  and  all  about  us,  on  the  tips  of  swaying  bushes 
and  in  the  tops  of  trees,  thousands  of  golden  larks  were 
singing.  They  were  in  appearance  like  our  meadow-larks 
back  east,  but  their  note  was  quite  different;  more  joyous 
and  Kiting,  but  with  the  same  liquid  quahty.  We  flushed 
many  sparrows  of  different  sorts;  and  we  saw  the  plumed 
quail,  the  gallant,  trim,  little,  well-groomed  gentlemen, 
running  rapidly  ahead  of  us.  And  over  it  all  showered 
the  clear  warmth  of  the  sun,  like  some  subtle  golden  ether 
that  dissolved  and  disengaged  from  the  sleeping  hills  multi- 
tudinous hummings  of  insects^  songs  of  birds^  odours  of 
earth,  perfumes  of  flowers. 

In  spite  of  ourselves  our  spirits  rose.  We  forgot  our  anx- 
ious figurings  on  ways  and  means,  our  too  concentrated  hopes 
of  success,  our  feverish,  intent,  single-minded  desire  for  gold. 
Three  abreast  we  marched  forward  through  the  waving, 
shimmering  wild  oats,  humming  once  more  the  strains  of  the 
silly  little  song  to  which  the  gold  seekers  had  elected  to  stride : 

"I  soon  shall  be  in  mining  camps, 
And  then  I'll  look  around, 
And  when  I  see  the  gold-dust  there, 
I'll  pick  it  off  the  ground. 

"I'll  scrape  the  mountains  clean,  old  girl, 
I'll  drain  the  rivers  dry; 
I'm  off  for  California. 
Susannah,  don't  you  cry!" 

136 


UP-RIVER 

Even  old  Yank  joined  in  the  chorus,  and  he  had  about  as 
much  voice  as  a  rusty  windmill,  and  about  the  same  idea 
of  tune  as  a  hog  has  of  war. 

"Oh,  Susannah!  don't  you  cry  for  me  I 
I'm  off  to  California  with  my  washbowl  on  my  knee! " 

We  topped  a  rise  and  advanced  on  Sutter's  Fort  as  though 
we  intended  by  force  and  arms  to  take  that  historic  post. 


137 


PART  in 
THE  MINES 


CHAPTER  XIV 
SUTTER'S  FORT 

Sutter's  Fort  was  situated  at  the  edge  of  the  live-oak 
park.  We  found  it  to  resemble  a  real  fort,  with  high 
walls,  bastions,  and  a  single  gate  at  each  end  through  which 
one  entered  to  a  large  enclosed  square,  perhaps  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  yards  long  by  fifty  wide.  The  walls  were 
not  pierced  for  guns;  and  the  defence  seemed  to  depend 
entirely  on  the  jutting  bastions.  The  walls  were  double, 
and  about  twenty-five  feet  apart.  Thus  by  roofing  over 
this  space,  and  dividing  it  with  partitions,  Sutter  had  made 
up  his  barracks,  blacksmith  shop,  bakery,  and  the  like. 
Later  in  our  investigations  we  even  ran  across  a  woollen 
factory,  a  distillery,  a  billiard  room,  and  a  bowling  alley! 
At  the  southern  end  of  this  long  space  stood  a  two-story 
house.  Directly  opposite  the  two-story  house  and  at  the 
other  end  of  the  enclosure  was  an  adobe  corral. 

The  place  was  crowded  with  people.  A  hundred  or  so 
miners  rushed  here  and  there  on  apparently  very  important 
business,  or  loafed  contentedly  against  the  posts  or  the 
sun-warmth  of  adobe  walls.  In  this  latter  occupation 
they  were  aided  and  abetted  by  a  number  of  the  native 
Califomians.  Perhaps  a  hundred  Indians  were  leading 
horses,  carrying  burdens  or  engaged  in  some  other  heavy 
toil.    They  were  the  first  we  had  seen,  and  we  examined 

141 


GOLD 

them  with  considerable  curiosity.  A  good  many  of  them 
were  nearly  naked;  but  some  had  on  portions  of  battered 
civilized  apparel.  Very  few  could  make  up  a  full  suit 
of  clothes;  but  contented  themselves  with  either  a  coat, 
or  a  shirt,  or  a  pair  of  pantaloons,  or  even  with  only  a 
hat,  as  the  case  might  be.  They  were  very  swarthy, 
squat,  villainous-looking  savages,  with  big  heads,  low 
foreheads,  coarse  hair,  and  beady  little  eyes. 

We  stopped  for  some  time  near  the  sentry  box  at  the 
entrance,  accustoming  ourselves  to  the  whirl  and  move- 
ment. Then  we  set  out  to  find  McClellan.  He  was  almost 
immediately  pointed  out  to  us,  a  short,  square,  businessKke 
man,  with  a  hard  gray  face,  dealing  competently  with  the 
pressure.  A  score  of  men  surrounded  him,  each  eager  for 
his  attention.  While  we  hovered,  awaiting  our  chance, 
two  men  walked  in  through  the  gate.  They  were  accorded 
the  compliment  of  almost  a  complete  silence  on  the  part 
of  those  who  caught  sight  of  them. 

The  first  was  a  Californian  about  thirty-five  or  forty 
years  of  age,  a  man  of  a  lofty,  stem  bearing,  swarthy 
skin,  glossy  side  whiskers,  and  bright  supercilious  eyes. 
He  wore  a  light  blue  short  jacket  trimmed  with  scarlet 
and  with  silver  buttons,  a  striped  silk  sash,  breeches  of 
crimson  velvet  met  below  by  long  embroidered  deerskin 
boots.  A  black  kerchief  was  bound  crosswise  on  his  head 
entirely  concealing  the  hair;  and  a  flat-crowned,  wide,  gray 
hat  heavily  ornamented  with  silver  completed  this  gorgeous 
costume.  He  moved  with  the  assured  air  of  the  aristocrat. 
The  splendour  of  his  apparel,  the  beauty  of  his  face  and 
figure,  and  the  grace  of  his  movements  attracted  the  first 

X4a 


SUTTER'S    FORT 

glance  from  all  eyes .  Then  immediately  he  was  passed  ovei' 
in  favour  of  his  companion. 

The  latter  was  a  shorter,  heavier  man,  of  more  mature 
years.  In  fact  his  side  whiskers  were  beginning  to  turn 
gray.  His  costume  was  plain,  but  exquisitely  neat,  and 
a  strange  blend  of  the  civil  and  the  military.  The  jacket 
for  example,  had  been  cut  in  the  trim  mihtary  fashion, 
but  was  worn  open  to  exhibit  the  snowy  cascade  of  the 
linen  beneath.  But  nobody  paid  much  attention  to  the 
man's  dress.  The  dignity  and  assured  calm  of  his  face  and 
eye  at  once  impressed  one  with  conviction  of  unusual 
quahty. 

Johnny  stared  for  a  moment,  his  brows  knit.  Then 
with  an  exclamation,  he  sprang  forward. 

"Captain  Sutter!"  he  cried. 

Sutter  turned  slowly,  to  look  Johnny  squarely  in  the  face, 
his  attitude  one  of  cold  but  courteous  inquiry.  Johnny 
was  approaching,  hat  in  hand.  I  confess  he  astonished  me. 
We  had  known  him  intimately  for  some  months,  and 
always  as  the  hanun-scarum,  impulsive,  hail  fellow,  bub- 
bling, irresponsible.  Now  a  new  Johnny  stepped  forward, 
quiet,  high-bred,  courteous,  self-contained.  Before  he  had 
spoken  a  word,  Captain  Sutter's  aloof  expression  had 
relaxed. 

"I  beg  your  pardon  for  addressing  you  so  abruptly," 
Johnny  was  saying.  "The  surprise  of  the  moment  must 
excuse  me.  Ten  years  ago,  sir,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  you  at  the  time  you  visited  my  father  in 
Virginia." 

"My  dear  boy!"  cried  Sutter.  '  "You  are,  of  course  the 

143 


GOLD 

son  of  Colonel  Fairfax.  But  ten  years  ago  —  you  were  a 
very  young  man !  '* 

"A  small  boy,  rather,"  laughed  Johnny. 

They  chatted  for  a  few  moments,  exchanging  news,  I 
suppose,  though  they  had  drawn  beyond  our  ear-shot.  In 
a  few  moments  we  were  summoned,  and  presented;  first  to 
Colonel  Sutter,  then  to  Don  Caspar  Martinez.  The  latter 
talked  English  well.  Yank  and  I,  both  somewhat  silent 
and  embarrassed  before  all  this  splendour  of  manner, 
trailed  the  triumphal  progress  like  two  small  boys.  We 
were  glad  to  trail,  however.  Captain  Sutter  took  us 
about,  showing  us  in  turn  all  the  many  industries  of  the 
place. 

"The  old  peaceful  Hfe  is  gone,"  said  he.  "The  fort 
has  become  a  trading  post  for  miners.  It  is  difficult  now 
to  get  labour  for  my  crops,  and  I  have  nearly  abandoned 
cultivation.     My  Indians  I  have  sent  out  to  mine  for  me." 

He  showed  us  a  row  of  long  troughs  outside  the  walls  to 
which  his  Indian  workmen  had  come  twice  a  day  for  their 
rations  of  wheat  porridge.  "They  scooped  it  out  with 
their  hands,"  he  told  us  "like  animals."  Also  he  pointed 
out  the  council  circle  Ijeneath  the  trees  where  he  used  to 
meet  the  Indians.  He  had  great  influence  with  the  sur- 
rounding tribes;  and  had  always  managed  to  live  peacefully 
with  them. 

"But  that  is  passing,"  said  he.  "The  American  miners, 
quite  naturally,  treat  them  as  men;  and  they  are  really 
children.  It  makes  misunderstanding,  and  bloodshed,  and 
reprisals.  The  era  of  good  feeling  is  about  over.  They 
still  trust  me,  however,  and  will  work  for  me.  '* 


SUTTER'S    FORT 

Don  Caspar  here  excused  himself  on  the  ground  of 
business,  promising  to  rejoin  us  later. 

"That  trouble  will  come  upon  us  next,"  said  Captain 
Sutter,  nodding  after  the  Spaniard's  retreating  form.  "It 
is  already  beginning.  The  CaHfornians  hold  vast  quanti- 
ties of  land  with  which  they  do  almost  nothing.  A  nu- 
merous and  energetic  race  is  coming;  and  it  will  require 
room.  There  is  conflict  there.  And  their  titles  are 
mixed;  very  mixed.  It  will  behoove  a  man  to  hold  a  very 
clear  title  when  the  time  comes." 

"Your  own  titles  are  doubtless  clear  and  strong,"  sug- 
gested Johnny. 

"None  better.  My  grant  here  came  directly  from  the 
Mexican  government  itself."  The  Captain  paused  to 
chuckle,  "I  suspect  that  the  reason  it  was  given  me  so 
freely  was  political  —  there  existed  at  that  time  a  desire 
to  break  up  the  power  of  the  Missions;  and  the  establish- 
ment of  rival  colonies  on  a  large  scale  would  help  to  do 
that.  The  government  evidently  thought  me  competent 
to  undertake  the  opening  of  this  new  country." 

"Your  grant  is  a  large  one?  "  surmised  Johnny. 

"Sixty  miles  by  about  twelve,"  said  Captain  Sutter. 

We  had  by  now  finished  our  inspection,  and  stood 
by  the  southern  gate. 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  Captain  Sutter,  "that  I  am  not 
in  a  position  to  offer  you  hospitality.  My  own  residence 
is  at  a  farm  on  the  Feather  River.  This  fort,  as  no  doubt 
you  are  aware,  I  have  sold  to  the  traders.  In  the  changed 
conditions  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  me." 

"Do  you  not  regret  the  changed  conditions?"  asked 

I4S 


GOLD 

Johnny  after  a  moment.  "I  can  imagine  the  interest  in 
building  a  new  community  —  all  these  industries,  the 
training  of  the  Indians  to  work,  the  growing  of  crops, 
the  raising  of  cattle." 

"One  may  regret  changed  conditions;  but  one  cannot 
prevent  their  changing,"  said  Captain  Sutter  in  his  even, 
placid  manner.  "The  old  condition  was  a  very  pleasant 
dream;  this  is  a  reaUty." 

We  walked  back  through  the  enclosure.  Our  companion 
was  greeted  on  all  sides  with  the  greatest  respect  and 
affection.  To  all  he  responded  with  benign  but  unapproach- 
able dignity.  From  the  vociferating  group  he  called  the 
irader,  McClellan,  to  whom  he  introduced  us,  all  three, 
with  urbane  formality. 

"These  young  men,"  he  told  McClellan,  who  listened 
to  him  intently,  his  brows  knit,  "are  more  than  acquaint- 
ances, they  are  very  especial  old  friends  of  mine.  I 
wish  to  bespeak  your  good  offices  for  what  they  may  require. 
They  are  on  their  way  to  the  mines.  And  now,  gentlemen, 
I  repeat,  I  am  delighted  to  have  had  this  opportunity;  I 
wish  you  the  best  of  luck;  and  I  sincerely  hope  you  may 
be  able  to  visit  me  at  Feather  River,  where  you  are 
always  sure  of  a  hearty  welcome.  Treat  them  well, 
McClellan." 

"You  know,  Cap'n,  friends  of  your^n  are  friends  of 
mine,"  said  McClellan  briefly. 

At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  we  found  ourselves  in  pos- 
session of  two  pack-horses  and  saddles,  and  a  load  of 
provisions. 

* '  Look  out  for  boss  thieves, ' '  advised  McClellan.    '  *  These 

146 


SUTTER'S    FORT 

yere  Greasers  will  follow  you  for  days  waitin'  for  a  chance 
to  git  your  stock.  Don't  picket  with  rawhide  rope  or  the 
coyotes  are  Hkely  to  knaw  yore  animiles  loose.  Better 
buy  a  couple  of  ha'r  ropes  from  the  nearest  Mex.  Take 
care  of  yoreselves.  Good-bye."  He  was  immediately 
immersed  in  his  flood  of  business. 

We  were  in  no  hurry  to  return,  so  we  put  in  an  hour 
or  so  talking  with  the  idlers.  From  them  we  heard  much 
praise  for  Sutter.  He  had  sent  out  such  and  such  expe- 
ditions to  rescue  snow-bound  immigrants  in  the  mountains; 
he  had  received  hospitably  the  travel-worn  transcontinen- 
tals;  he  had  given  freely  to  the  indigent;  and  so  on  with- 
out end.  I  am  very  glad  that  even  at  second  hand  I 
had  the  chance  to  know  this  great-hearted  old  soldier  of 
Charles  X  while  in  the  glory  of  his  possessions  and  the 
esteem  of  men.  Acre  by  acre  his  lands  were  filched  from 
him;  and  he  died  in  Washington  vainly  petitioning  Con- 
gress for  restitution. 


147 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  GOLD  TRAH. 

We  loaded  our  pack-horses,  and  set  ofif  next  morning 
early  on  the  trail  up  the  American  River.  At  last,  it 
seemed  to  us,  we  were  really  under  way;  as  though  our 
long  joumeyings  and  many  experiences  had  been  but  a 
preparation  for  this  start.  Our  spirits  were  high,  and  we 
laughed  and  joked  and  sang  extravagantly.  Even  Yank 
woke  up  and  acted  like  a  frisky  colt.  Such  early  way- 
farers as  we  met,  we  hailed  with  shouts  and  chaffing; 
nor  were  we  in  the  least  abashed  by  an  occasional  surly 
response,  or  the  not  infrequent  attempts  to  discourage 
our  hopes.  For  when  one  man  said  there  was  no  gold; 
another  was  as  confident  that  the  diggings  were  not  even 
scratched. 

The  morning  was  a  very  fine  one;  a  little  chilly,  with 
a  thin  white  mist  hanging  low  along  the  ground.  This 
the  sun  soon  dissipated.  The  birds  sang  everywhere. 
We  trudged  along  the  dusty  road  merrily. 

Every  little  while  we  stopped  to  readjust  the  burdens 
to  our  animals.  A  mountaineer  had  showed  us  how  to  lash 
them  on,  but  our  skill  at  that  sort  of  thing  was  miner^Sy 
and  the  packs  would  not  hold.  We  had  to  do  them  one  at 
a  time,  using  the  packed  animal  was  a  pattern  from  which 
to  copy  the  hitch  on  the  other.    In  this  painful  manner 

148 


THE     GOLD     TRAIL 

we  learned  the  Squaw  Hitch,  which,  for  a  long  time,  was 
to  be  the  extent  of  our  knowledge.  However,  we  got  on 
well  enough,  and  mounted  steadily  by  the  turns  and  twists 
of  an  awful  road,  following  the  general  course  of  the  river 
below  us. 

On  the  hills  grew  high  brush,  some  of  it  very  beautiful. 
The  buckthorn,  for  example,  was  just  coming  out;  and  the 
dogwood,  and  the  mountain  laurel.  At  first  these  clumps 
of  bush  were  few  and  scattered;  and  the  surface  of  the 
hills,  carpeted  with  short  grass,  rolled  gently  away,  or 
broke  in  stone  dikes  and  outcrops.  Then  later,  as  we 
mounted,  they  drew  together  until  they  covered  the  moun- 
tainsides completely,  save  where  oaks  and  madrone  kept 
clear  some  space  for  themselves.  After  a  time  we  began 
to  see  a  scrubby  long-needled  pine  thrusting  its  head  here 
and  there  above  the  undergrowth.  That  was  as  far  as  we 
got  that  day.  In  the  hollow  of  a  ravine  we  found  a  tiny 
rill  of  water,  and  there  we  camped.  Johnny  offered  some 
slight  objections  at  first.  It  v/as  only  two  o'clock  of  the 
afternoon,  the  trees  were  scrubby,  the  soil  dusty,  the  place 
generally  uncomfortable.     But  Yank  shook  his  head. 

"If  we  knew  how  they  played  this  game,  it  might  be 
all  right  to  go  ahead.  But  we  don't,"  said  he.  "I've 
been  noticing  this  trail  pretty  close;  and  I  ain't  seen  much 
water  except  in  the  river;  and  that's  an  awful  ways  down. 
Maybe  we'll  find  some  water  over  the  next  hill,  and  maybe 
we  won't.  But  we  know  there's  water  here.  Then  there's 
the  question  of  hoss  thieves.  McClellan  strikes  me  as  a 
man  to  be  believed.  I  don't  know  how  they  act;  but  you 
bet  no  hoss  thief  gets  off  with  my  hoss  and  me  watchin'. 

149 


GOLD 

But  at  night  it's  different.  I  don't  know  how  they  do 
things.  But  I  do  know  that  if  we  tie  our  hosses  next  us, 
they  won't  be  stolen.  And  that's  what  I  aim  to  do.  But 
if  we  do  that,  we  got  to  give  them  a  chance  to  eat,  hain't 
we?  So  we'll  let  them  feed  the  rest  of  the  afternoon,  and 
we'll  tie  em  up  to-night." 

This  was  much  talk  for  Yank.  In  fact,  the  only  time 
that  taciturn  individual  ever  would  open  up  was  in  ex- 
planation of  or  argument  about  some  expedient  of  wilder- 
ness life  or  travel.  It  sounded  entirely  logical.  So  we 
made  camp. 

Yank  turned  the  two  horses  out  into  a  grass  meadow, 
and  sat,  his  back  against  an  oak  tree,  smoking  his  pipe 
and  watching  them.  Johnny  and  I  unrolled  the  beds, 
sorted  out  the  simple  cooking  utensils,  and  started  to 
cook.  Occasional  travellers  on  the  road  just  above  us 
shouted  out  friendly  greetings.  They  were  a  miscel- 
laneous lot.  Most  were  headed  toward  the  mountains. 
These  journeyed  in  various  ways.  Some  walked  afoot 
and  unencumbered,  some  carried  apparently  all  their 
belongings  on  their  backs,  one  outfit  comprising  three 
men  had  three  saddle  horses  and  four  packs  —  a  princely 
caravan.  One  of  the  cargadore's  pack-trains  went  up  the 
road  enveloped  in  a  thick  cloud  of  dust  —  twenty  or 
thirty  pack-mules  and  four  men  on  horseback  herding 
them  forward.  A  white  mare,  unharnessed  save  for  a 
clanging  bell,  led  the  way;  and  all  the  mules  followed  her 
slavishly,  the  nose  of  one  touching  the  tail  of  the  other, 
as  is  the  mule's  besotted  fashion.  They  were  gay  little 
animak,  with  silver  buttons  on  their  harness,  and  yellow 

150 


THE    GOLD    TRAIL 

sheepskin  linings  to  their  saddles.  They  carried  a  great 
variety  of  all  sorts  of  things;  and  at  the  freighting  rates 
quoted  to  us  must  have  made  money  for  their  owners. 
Their  drivers  were  a  picturesque  quartette  in  sombreros, 
wide  sashes,  and  flowing  garments.  They  sat  their  animals 
with  a  graceful  careless  ease  beautiful  to  behold. 

Near  sundown  two  horsemen  turned  off  the  trail  and 
rode  down  to  our  little  trickle  of  water.  When  they  drew 
near  we  recognized  in  one  of  them  Don  Caspar  Martinez. 
He  wore  still  his  gorgeous  apparel  of  the  day  before,  with 
only  the  addition  of  a  pair  of  heavy  silver  ornamented 
spurs  on  his  heels,  and  a  brace  of  pistols  in  his  sash.  His 
horse,  a  magnificent  chestnut,  was  harnessed  in  equal  gor- 
geousness,  with  silvered  broad  bit,  silver  chains  jangHng 
therefrom,  a  plaited  rawhide  bridle  and  reins,  a  carved 
leather,  high-pommelled  saddle,  also  s^ver  ornamented, 
an,d  a  bright  coloured,  woven  saddle  blanket  beneath. 
The  animal  stepped  daintily  and  proudly,  lifting  his 
little  feet  and  planting  them  among  the  stones  as  though 
fastidiously.  The  man  who  rode  with  Don  Caspar  was 
evidently  of  a  lower  class.  He  was,  however,  a  straight 
handsome  young  fellow  enough,  with  a  dark  clear  com- 
plexion, a  small  moustache,  and  a  pleasant  smile.  His 
dress  and  accoutrements  were  on  the  same  general  order 
as  those  cf  Don  Caspar,  but  of  quieter  colour  and  more 
serviceable  material.  His  horse,  however,  was  of  the  same 
high-bred  type.  A  third  animal  followed,  unled,  packed 
with  two  cowhide  boxes. 

The  Spaniard  rode  up  to  us  and  sahited  courteously; 
then  his  eye  lit  with  recognition. 

151 


<  GOLD  "^ 

"Ah,"  said  he,  "the  good  friends  of  our  Capitan  Sutter  1 
This  is  to  be  well  met.  If  it  is  not  too  much  I  would 
beg  the  favour  of  to  camp." 

"By  all  means,  Don  Caspar,"  said  Johnny  rising.  "The 
pleasure  is  of  course  our  own." 

Again  saluting  us,  Don  Caspar  and  his  companion  with- 
drew a  short  distance  up  the  little  meadow.  There  the 
Spaniard  sat  down  beneath  a  bush  and  proceeded  to 
smoke  a  cigaretto,  while  his  companion  unsaddled  the 
horses,  turned  them  loose  to  graze,  stacked  up  their 
saddles,  and  made  simple  camping  arrangements. 

"Old  Plush  Pants  doesn't  intend  to  do  any  work  if  he 
catches  sight  of  it  first,"  observed  Johnny. 

"Probably  the  other  man  is  a  servant?"  I  suggested. 

"More  likely  a  sort  of  dependent,"  amended  Johnny. 
"They  run  a  kind  of  patriarchal  establishment,  I've  been 
told." 

"Don't  use  them  big  words,  Johnny,"  complained  Yank, 
coming  up  with  the  horses 

"I  meant  they  make  the  poor  relations  and  kid  brothers 
do  the  hustling,"  said  Johnny. 

"Now  I  understand  you,"  said  Yank.  "I  wish  I  could 
see  what  they  do  with  their  bosses  nights.  I  bet  they 
know  how.  And  if  I  was  a  hoss  thief,  I'd  surely  take  a 
long  chance  for  that  chestnut  gelding." 

"You  might  wander  over  later  and  find  out,"  I  sug- 
gested. 

^'And  get  my  system  full  of  lead  —  sure,"  said  Yank. 

The  two  camps  did  not  exchange  visits.  We  caught 
the  flicker  of  their  little  fire;  but  we  were  really  too  tired 


THE    GOLD    TRAIL 

to  be  curious,  and  we  turned  in  early,  our  two  animals 
tied  fast  to  small  trees  at  our  feet. 

The  next  day  lifted  us  into  the  mountains.  Big  green 
peaks  across  which  hung  a  bltdsh  haze  showed  themselves 
between  the  hills.  The  latter  were  more  precipitous; 
and  the  brush  had  now  given  way  to  pines  of  better  size 
and  quaUty  than  those  seen  lower  down.  The  river 
foamed  over  rapids  or  ran  darkling  in  pools  and  stretches. 
Along  the  roadside,  rarely,  we  came  upon  rough-looking 
log  cabins,  or  shacks  of  canvas,  or  tents.  The  owners 
were  not  at  home.  We  thought  them  miners;  but  in  the 
light  of  subsequent  knowledge  I  believe  that  unlikely  — 
the  diggings  were  farther  in. 

We  came  upon  the  diggings  quite  suddenly.  The  trail 
ran  around  the  comer  of  a  hill;  and  there  they  were  below 
us !  In  the  wide,  dry  stream  bottom  perhaps  fifty  men  were 
working  busily,  like  a  lot  of  ants.  Some  were  picking 
away  at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  others  had  dug  themselves 
down  waist  deep,  and  stooped  and  rose  like  legless  bodies. 
Others  had  disappeared  below  ground,  and  showed  oc- 
casionally only  as  shovel  blades.  From  so  far  above  the 
scene  was  very  lively  and  animated,  for  each  was  working 
like  a  beaver,  and  the  red  shirts  made  gay  little  spots  of 
colour.  On  the  hillside  clung  a  few  white  tents  and  log 
cabins;  but  the  main  town  itself,  we  later  discovered,  as 
well  as  the  larger  diggings,  lay  around  the  bend  and  up- 
stream. 

We  looked  all  about  us  for  some  path  leading  down  to 
the  river,  but  could  find  none;  so  perforce  we  had  to 
continue  on  along  the  trail.    Thus  we  entered  the  camp 

153 


GOLD 

of  Hangman's  Gulch;  for  if  it  had  been  otherwise  I  am  sure 
we  would  have  located  promptly  where  we  had  seen  those 
red-shirted  men. 

The  camp  consisted  merely  of  a  closer-knit  group  of 
tents,  log  shacks,  and  a  few  larger  buildings  constructed 
of  a  queer  combination  of  heavy  hewn  timbers  and  canvas. 
We  saw  nobody  at  all,  though  in  some  of  the  larger  build- 
ings we  heard  signs  of  life.  However,  we  did  not  wait  to 
investigate  the  wonders  of  Hangman's  Gulch,  but  drove  our 
animals  along  the  one  street,  looking  for  the  trail  that  should 
lead  us  back  to  the  diggings.  We  missed  it,  somehow, 
but  struck  into  a  beaten  path  that  took  us  upstream.  This 
we  followed  a  few  hundred  yards.  It  proceeded  along  a 
rough,  boulder-strewn  river-bed,  around  a  point  of  rough, 
jagged  rocks,  and  out  to  a  very  wide  gravelly  flat  through 
which  the  river  had  made  itself  a  narrow  channel.  The 
flat  swarmed  with  men,  all  of  them  busy,  and  very 
silent. 

Leading  our  pack-horses  we  approached  the  nearest 
pair  of  these  men,  and  stood  watching  them  curiously. 
One  held  a  coarse  screen  of  willow  which  he  shook  contin- 
uously above  a  common  cooking-pot,  while  the  other  slowly 
shovelled  earth  over  this  sieve.  When  the  two  pots,  which 
with  the  shovel  seemed  to  be  all  the  tools  these  men  pos- 
sessed, had  been  half  filled  thus  with  the  fine  earth,  the 
men  carried  them  to  the  river.  We  followed.  The  miners 
carefully  submerged  the  pots,  and  commenced  to  stir 
their  contents  with  their  doubled  fists.  The  light  earth 
muddied  the  water,  floated  upward,  and  then  flowed  slowly 
over  the  rim  of  the  pots  and  down  the  current.    After  a 

154 


THE    GOLD    TRAIL 

few  minutes  of  this,  they  lifted  the  pots  carefully,  drained 
off  the  water,  and  started  back. 

"May  we  look?"  ventured  Johnny. 

The  taller  man  glanced  at  us,  and  our  pack-horses, 
and  nodded.  This  was  the  first  time  he  had  troubled  to 
take  a  good  look  at  us.  The  bottom  of  the  pot  was  covered 
with  fine  black  sand  in  which  we  caught  the  gleam  and 
sparkle  of  something  yellow. 

"Is  that  gold?"  I  asked,  awed. 

"That's  gold,"  the  man  repeated,  his  rather  saturnine 
features  lighting  up  with  a  grin.  Then  seeing  our  interest, 
he  unbent  a  trifle.  "We  dry  the  sand,  and  then  blow  it 
away,"  he  explained;  and  strode  back  to  where  his  com- 
panion was  impatiently  waiting. 

We  stumbled  on  over  the  rocks  and  debris.  There 
were  probably  something  near  a  hundred  men  at  work  in 
the  gulch.  We  soon  observed  that  the  pot  method  was 
considered  a  very  crude  and  simple  way  of  getting  out  the 
gold.  Most  of  the  men  carried  iron  pans  full  of  the  earth 
to  the  waterside,  where,  after  submerging  until  the  lighter 
earth  had  floated  off,  they  slopped  the  remainder  over 
the  side  with  a  peculiar  twisting,  whirling  motion,  leaving 
at  last  only  the  black  sand  —  and  the  gold!  These  pan 
miners  were  in  the  great  majority.  But  one  group  of  four 
men  was  doing  business  on  a  larger  scale.  They  had  con- 
structed what  looked  like  a  very  shallow  baby-cradle  on 
rockers  into  which  they  poured  their  earth  and  water. 
By  rocking  the  cradle  violently  but  steadily,  they  spilled 
the  mud  over  the  sides.  Cleats  had  been  nailed  in  the 
bottom  to  catch  the  black  sand. 

155 


GOLD 

We  wandered  about  here  and  there,  looking  with  all 
our  eyes.  The  miners  were  very  busy  and  silent,  but 
quite  friendly,  and  allowed  us  to  examine  as  much  as  we 
pleased  the  results  of  their  operations.  In  the  pots  and 
cradles  the  yellow  flake  gold  ghttered  plainly,  contrasting 
with  the  black  sand.  In  the  pans,  however,  the  residue 
spread  out  fan-shaped  along  the  angle  between  the  bottom 
and  the  side,  and  at  the  apex  the  gold  lay  heavy  and 
beautiful  all  by  itself.  The  men  were  generally  bearded, 
tanned  with  working  in  this  blinding  sun,  and  plastered 
liberally  with  the  red  earth.  We  saw  some  queer  sights, 
however;  as  when  we  came  across  a  jolly  pair  dressed  in 
what  were  the  remains  of  ultra-fashionable  garments  up  to 
and  including  plug  hats!  At  one  side  working  some  dis- 
tance from  the  stream  were  small  groups  of  native  Cali- 
fornians  or  Mexicans.  They  did  not  trouble  to  carry  the 
earth  all  the  way  to  the  river;  but,  after  screening  it 
roughly,  tossed  it  into  the  air  above  a  canvas,  thus  winnow- 
ing out  the  heavier  pay  dirt.  I  thought  this  must  be 
very  disagreeable. 

As  we  wandered  about  here  and  there  among  all  these 
men  so  busily  engaged,  and  with  our  own  eyes  saw  pan 
after  pan  show  gold,  actual  metallic  guaranteed  gold, 
such  as  rings  and  watches  and  money  are  made  of,  a  growing 
excitement  possessed  us,  the  excitement  of  a  small  boy 
with  a  new  and  untried  gun.  We  wanted  to  get  at  it 
ourselves.    Only  we  did  not  know  how. 

Finally  Yank  approached  one  of  the  busy  miners. 

*' Stranger,"  said  he,  "we're  new  to  this.  Maybe  you 
can  tell  us  where  we  can  dig  a  little  of  this  gold  ourselves." 

156 


THE    GOLD    TRAIL 

The  man  straightened  his  back,  to  exhibit  a  roving 
humorous  blue  eye,  with  which  he  examined  Yank  from 
top  to  toe. 

"If,"  said  he,  "it  wasn't  for  that  eighteen-foot  cannon 
you  carry  over  your  left  arm,  and  a  cold  gray  pair  of  eyes 
you  carry  in  your  head,  I'd  direct  you  up  the  sidehill 
yonder,  and  watch  you  sweat.  As  it  is,  you  can  work 
anywhere  anybody  else  isn't  working.    Start  in ! " 

"Can  we  dig  right  next  to  you,  then?"  asked  Yank, 
nodding  at  an  unbroken  piece  of  ground  just  upstream. 

The  miner  clambered  carefully  out  of  his  waist-deep 
trench,  searched  his  pockets,  produced  a  pipe  and  tobacco. 
After  lighting  this  he  made  Yank  a  low  bow. 

"Thanks  for  the  compliment;  but  I  warn  you,  this 
claim  of  mine  is  not  very  rich.  I'm  thinking  of  trying 
somewhere  else." 

"Don't  you  get  any  gold?" 

"Oh,  a  few  ounces  a  day." 

"That  suits  me  for  a  beginning,"  said  Yank  decidedly. 
"Come  on,  boys!" 

The  miner  hopped  back  into  his  hole,  only  to  stick  his 
head  out  again  for  the  purpose  of  telling  us: 

"Mind  you  keep  fifteen  feet  away!" 

With  eager  hands  we  slipped  a  pick  and  shovels  from 
beneath  the  pack  ropes,  undid  our  iron  bucket,  and  without 
further  delay  commenced  feverishly  to  dig. 

Johnny  held  the  pail,  while  Yank  and  I  vied  with  each 
other  in  being  the  first  to  get  our  shovelfuls  into  that 
receptacle.  As  a  consequence  we  nearly  swamped  the 
pail  first  off,  and  had  to  pour  some  of  the  earth  out  again. 

157 


■^  GOLD 

rhen  we  all  three  ran  down  to  the  river  and  took  turns 
stirring  that  mud  pie  beneath  the  gently  flowing  waters 
in  the  manner  of  the  "pot  panners"  we  had  first  watched. 
After  a  good  deal  of  trouble  we  found  ourselves  possessed 
of  a  thick  layer  of  rocks  and  coarse  pebbles. 

"We  forgot  to  screen  it,"  I  pointed  out. 

"We  haven't  any  screen,"  said  Johnny. 

"Let's  pick  'em  out  by  hand?"  suggested  Yank. 

We  did  so.  The  process  emptied  the  pail.  Each  of  us 
insisted  on  examining  closely;  but  none  of  us  succeeded  in 
creating  out  of  our  desires  any  of  that  alluring  black 
sand. 

"I  suppose  we  can't  expect  to  get  colour  every  time?" 
observed  Johnny  disappointedly.     "Let's  try  her  again." 

We  tried  her  again:  and  yet  again;  and  then  some  more; 
but  always  with  the  same  result.  Our  hands  became 
puffed  and  wrinkled  with  constant  immersion  in  the  water, 
and  began  to  feel  sore  from  the  continual  stirring  of  the 
rubble. 

"Something  wrong,"  grunted  Johnny  into  the  abysmal 
silence  in  which  we  had  been  carrying  on  our  work. 

"We  can't  expect  it  every  time,"  I  reminded  him. 

"All  the  others  seem  to." 

"Well,  maybe  we've  struck  a  blank  place;  let's  try 
somewhere  else,"  suggested  Yank. 

Johnny  went  over  to  speak  to  our  neighbour,  who 
was  engaged  in  tossing  out  shoveKuls  of  earth  from  an 
excavation  into  which  he  had  nearly  disappeared.  At 
Johnny's  hail,  he  straightened  his  back,  so  that  his  head 
bobbed  out  of  the  hole  like  a  prairie  dog. 

158 


THE    GOLD     TRAIL 

"No,  it  doesn't  matter  where  you  dig,"  he  answered 
Johnny's  question.    "The  pay  dirt  is  everywhere." 

So  we  moved  on  a  few  hundred  feet,  picked  another 
unoccupied  patch,  and  resumed  our  efforts.  No  greater 
success  rewarded  us  here. 

"  I  believe  maybe  we  ought  to  go  deeper,"  surmised  Yank. 

"Some  of  these  fellows  are  taking  their  dirt  right 
off  top  of  the  ground,"  objected  Johnny. 

However,  we  unlimbered  the  pickaxe  and  went  deeper; 
to  the  extent  of  two  feet  or  more.  It  was  good  hard  work, 
especially  as  we  were  all  soft  for  it.  The  sun  poured 
down  on  our  backs  with  burning  intensity;  our  hands 
blistered;  and  the  round  rocks  and  half -cemented  rubble 
that  made  the  bar  were  not  the  easiest  things  in  the  world 
to  remove.  However,  we  kept  at  it.  Yank  and  I,  having 
in  times  past  been  more  or  less  accustomed  to  this  sort  of 
thing,  got  off  much  easier  than  did  poor  Johnny.  About 
two  feet  down  we  came  to  a  mixed  coarse  sand  and  stones, 
a  little  finer  than  the  top  dirt.  This  seemed  to  us  prom- 
ising, so  we  resumed  our  washing  operations.  They  bore 
the  same  results  as  had  the  first;  which  was  just  the  whole 
of  nothing. 

"We've  got  to  hit  it  somewhere,"  said  Johnny  between 
his  teeth.    "Let's  try  another  place." 

We  scrambled  rather  wearily,  but  with  a  dogged  deter- 
mination, out  of  our  shallow  hole.  Our  blue-eyed,  long- 
bearded  friend  was  sitting  on  a  convenient  boulder  near 
at  hand,  his  pipe  between  his  teeth,  watching  our  operations. 

"  Got  any  tobacco,  boys?  "  he  inquired  genially.  "  Smoked 
my  last  imtil  to-night,  unless  you'll  lend." 

259 


GOLD 

Yank  produced  a  plug,  from  which  the  stranger  shaved 
some  parings. 

" Struck  the  dirt? ^'  he  inquired.  "No,  I  see  you  haven't." 
He  stretched  himself  and  arose.  "You  aren't  washing  this 
stuff!"  he  cried  in  amazement,  as  his  eye  took  in  fully 
what  we  were  about. 

Then  we  learned  what  we  might  have  known  before  — 
but  how  should  we?  —  that  the  gold  was  not  to  be  found 
in  any  and  every  sort  of  loose  earth  that  might  happen  to 
be  lying  about,  but  only  in  either  a  sort  of  blue  clay  or  a 
pulverized  granite.  Sometimes  this  "pay  dirt"  would  be 
found  atop  the  ground.  Again,  the  miner  had  to  dig 
for  it. 

"All  the  surface  diggings  are  taken  up,"  our  friend 
told  us.  "  So  now  you  have  to  dig  deep.  It's  about  four 
feet  down  where  I'm  working.  It'll  probably  be  deeper 
up  here.    You'd  better  move  back  where  you  were." 

Yank,  stretched  himself  upright. 

"Look  here,"  he  said  decidedly;  "let's  get  a  little  sense 
into  ourselves.  Here's  our  pore  old  bosses  standing 
with  their  packs  on,  and  we  no  place  to  stay,  and  no  dinner; 
and  we're  scratchin'  away  at  this  bar  like  a  lot  of  fool  hens. 
There's  other  days  comin'." 

Johnny  and  I  agreed  with  the  common  sense  of  the 
thing,  but  reluctantly.  Now  that  we  knew  how,  our 
enthusiasm  surged  up  again.  We  wanted  to  get  at  it. 
The  stranger's  eyes  twinkled  sympathetically. 

"Here,  boys,"  said  he,  " I  know  just  how  you  feel.  Come 
with  me." 

He  snatched  up  our  bucket  and  strode  back  to  his 

1 60 


THE    GOLD    TRAIL 

^wn  claim,  where  he  filled  the  receptacle  with  some  of  the 
earth  he  had  thrown  out. 

*'  Go  pan  that,"  he  advised  us  kindly. 

We  raced  to  the  water,  and  once  more  stirred  about  the 
heavy  contents  of  the  pail  until  they  had  floated  off  with 
the  water.  In  the  bottom  lay  a  fine  black  residue;  and 
in  that  residue  glittered  the  tiny  yellow  particles.  We  had 
actually  panned  our  first  gold! 

Our  friend  examined  it  critically. 

**  That's  about  a  twelve-cent  pan,"  he  adjudged  it. 

Somehow,  in  a  vague  way,  we  had  unreasonably  expected 
millions  at  a  twist  of  the  wrist;  and  the  words,  "twelve 
cents,"  had  a  rankly  penurious  sound  to  us.  However,  the 
miner  patiently  explained  that  a  twelve-cent  pan  was  a  very 
good  one;  and  indubitably  it  was  real  gold. 

Yank,  being  older  and  less  excitable,  had  not  accom- 
panied us  to  the  waterside. 

"Well,  boys,"  he  drawled,  "that  twelve  cents  is  highly 
satisfactory,  of  course;  but  in  the  meantime  we've  lost 
about  six  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  boss  and  grub." 

Surely  enough,  our  animals  had  tired  of  waiting  for  us, 
and  had  moved  out  packs  and  all.  We  hastily  shouldered 
our  implements. 

"Don't  you  want  to  keep  this  claim  next  me?"  inquired 
our  acquaintance. 

We  stopped. 

"Surely!"  I  replied.    "But  how  do  we  do  it?" 

"Just  leave  your  pick  and  shovel  in  the  hole.*' 

"Won't  some  one  steal  them? " 

"No." 

x6x 


GOLD 

"What's  to  prevent?  "  I  asked  a  little  skeptically. 

"Miners'  law,"  he  replied. 

We  almost  immediately  got  trace  of  our  strayed  animals^ 
as  a  number  of  men  had  seen  them  going  upstream.  In 
fact  we  had  no  difficulty  whatever  in  finding  them  for  they 
had  simply  followed  up  the  rough  stream-bed  between  the 
canon  walls  until  it  had  opened  up  to  a  gentler  slope  and 
a  hanging  garden  of  grass  and  flowers.  Here  they  had 
turned  aside  and  were  feeding.  We  caught  them,  and 
were  just  heading  them  back,  when  Yank  stopped  short. 

"What's  the  matter  with  this  here?"  he  inquired. 
"Here's  feed,  and  water  near,  and  it  ain't  so  very  far  back 
to  the  diggings." 

We  looked  about  us,  for  the  first  time  with  seeing  eyes. 
The  little  up-sloping  meadow  was  blue  and  dull  red 
with  flowers;  below  us  the  stream  brawled  foam  flecked 
/among  black  rocks;  the  high  hills  rose  up  to  meet  the  sky, 
and  at  our  backs  across  the  way  the  pines  stood  thick 
serried.  Far  up  in  the  blue  heavens  some  birds  were 
circling  slowly.  Somehow  the  leisurely  smng  of  these 
unhasting  birds  struck  from  us  the  feverish  hurry  that 
had  latety  filled  our  souls.  We  drew  deep  breaths;  and 
for  the  first  time  the  great  peace  and  majesty  of  these 
California  mountains  cooled  our  spirits. 

"I  think  it's  a  bully  place,  Yanlc,"  said  Johnny  soberly, 
"and  that  little  bench  up  above  us  looks  flat." 

We  clambered  across  the  slant  of  the  flower-spangled 
meadow  to  the  bench,  just  within  the  fringe  of  the  pines. 
It  proved  to  be  flat,  and  from  the  edge  of  it  down  the 
hill  seeped  a  little  spring  marked  by  the  feathery  bracken. 

162 


'THE     GOLD     TRAIL 

We  entered  a  cool  green  place,  peopled  with  shadows  and 
the  rare,  considered  notes  of  soft- voiced  birds.  Just 
over  our  threshold,  as  it  were,  was  the  sunlit,  chirpy, 
buzzing,  bright-coloured,  busy  world.  Overhead  a  wind 
of  many  voices  hummed  through  the  pine  tops.  The 
golden  sunhght  flooded  the  mountains  opposite,  flashed 
from  the  stream,  lay  languorous  on  the  meadow.  Long  bars 
of  it  slanted  through  an  unguessed  gap  in  the  hills  behind 
lis  to  touch  with  magic  the  very  tops  of  the  trees  over  our 
heads.  The  sheen  of  the  precious  metal  was  over  the 
land. 


i6i 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  FIRST  GOLD 

We  arose  before  dayKght,  picketed  our  horses,  left 
our  dishes  unwashed,  and  hurried  down  to  the  diggings 
just  at  sun-up  carrying  our  gold  pans  or  "washbowls,"  and 
our  extra  tools.  The  bar  was  as  yet  deserted.  We  set 
to  work  with  a  will,  taking  turns  with  the  pickaxe  and 
the  two  shovels.  I  must  confess  that  our  speed  slowed 
down  considerably  after  the  first  wild  burst,  but  we 
kept  at  it  steadily.  It  was  hard  work,  and  there  is  no 
denying  it,  just  the  sort  of  plain  hard  work  the  day  labourer 
does  when  he  digs  sewer  trenches  in  the  city  sxreets. 
Only  worse,  perhaps,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  soil. 
It  has  struck  me  since  that  those  few  years  of  hard  labour 
in  the  diggings,  from  -49  to  '53  or  '54,  saw  more  actual 
manual  toil  accompHshed  than  was  ever  before  performed 
in  the  same  time  by  the  same  number  of  men.  The  dis- 
couragement of  those  returning  we  now  understood.  They 
had  expected  to  take  the  gold  without  toil;  and  were  dis- 
mayed at  the  labour  it  had  required.  At  any  rate,  we 
thought  we  were  doing  our  share  that  morning,  especially 
after  the  sun  came  up.  We  wielded  our  implements  man- 
fully, piled  our  debris  to  one  side,  and  gradually  achieved  a 
sort  of  crumbling  uncertain  excavation  reluctant  to  stay 
emptied. 

164 


THE    FIRST    GOLD 

About  an  hour  after  our  arrival  the  other  miners  begaa 
to  appear,  smoking  their  pipes.  They  stretched  them- 
selves lazily,  spat  upon  their  hands,  and  set  to.  Our 
friend  of  the  day  before  nodded  at  us  cheerfully,  and 
hopped  down  into  his  hole. 

We  removed  what  seemed  to  us  tons  of  rock.  About 
noon,  just  as  we  were  thinking  rather  dispiritedly  of 
knocking  off  work  for  a  lunch  —  which  in  our  early  morning 
eagerness  we  had  forgotten  to  bring  —  Johnny  turned  up  a 
shovelful  whose  lower  third  consisted  of  the  pulverized 
bluish  clay.  We  promptly  forgot  both  lunch  and  our  own 
weariness. 

"Hey!"  shouted  our  friend,  scrambling  from  his  own 
claim.  "Easy  with  the  rocks  I  What  are  you  conducting 
here?  a  volcano?  "  He  peered  down  at  us.  "  Pay  dirt,  hey? 
Well,  take  it  easy;  it  won't  run  away ! " 

Take  it  easy!  As  well  ask  us  to  quit  entirely!  We 
tore  at  the  rubble,  which  aggravatingly  and  obstinately 
cascaded  down  upon  us  from  the  sides;  we  scraped  eagerly 
for  more  of  that  blue  clay;  at  last  we  had  filled  our  three 
pans  with  a  rather  mixed  lot  of  the  dirt,  and  raced  to  the 
river.  Johnny  fell  over  a  boulder  and  scattered  his  panful 
far  and  wide.  His  manner  of  scuttling  back  to  the  hole 
after  more  reminded  me  irresistibly  of  the  way  a  contest- 
ant in  a  candle  race  hurries  back  to  the  starting  point  to 
get  his  candle  relighted. 

We  panned  that  dirt  clumsily  and  hastily  enough;  and 
undoubtedly  lost  much  valuable  sand  overside;  but  we 
ended  each  with  a  string  of  colour.  We  crowded  together 
comparing  our  "pans."    Then  we  went  crazy.    I  suppose- 

16£ 


GOLD 

we  had  about  a  quarter  of  a  dollar's  worth  of  gold  between 
us,  but  that  was  not  the  point.  The  long  journey  with  all 
its  hardships  and  adventures,  the  toil,  the  uncertainty, 
the  hopes,  the  disappointments  and  reactions  had  at  last 
their  visible  tangible  conclusion.  The  tiny  flecks  of  gold 
were  a  symbol.  We  yapped  aloud,  we  kicked  up  our 
heels,  we  shook  hands,  we  finally  joined  hands  and  danced 
around  and  around. 

From  all  sides  the  miners  came  running  up,  dropping 
their  tools  with  a  clatter.  We  were  assailed  by  a  chorus 
of  eager  cries. 

"What  is  it,  boys?"  "A  strike?"  "Whereabouts  is 
your  claim?"    "Isit  ^flour'  or  ^flake?"    "Let's  see!" 

They  crowded  around  in  a  dense  mob,  and  those  nearest 
jostled  to  get  a  glimpse  of  our  pans.  Suddenly  sobered 
by  this  interest  in  our  doings,  we  would  have  edged  away 
could  we  have  got  hold  of  our  implements. 

"Wall,  I'll  be  dumed!"  snorted  a  tall  state  of  Maine 
mat  in  disgust.  "This  ain't  no  strike!  This  is  an  insane 
asylum." 

The  news  slowly  penetrated  the  crov/d.  A  roar  of 
laughter  went  up.  Most  of  the  men  were  hugely  amused; 
but  some  few  were  so  disgusted  at  having  been  fooled  that 
they  were  almost  inclined  to  take  it  as  a  personal  affront 
that  we  had  not  made  the  expected  "strike." 

"You'd  think  they  was  a  bunch  of  confounded  Kesky- 
deeSj"  growled  one  of  them. 

The  miners  slowly  dispersed,  returning  to  their  own  dig- 
gings. Somewhat  red-faced,  and  very  silent,  we  gathered 
up  our  pans  and  slunk  back  to  the  claim.    Our  neighbour 

z66 


THE    FIRST    GOLD 

stuck  his  head  out  of  his  hole.  He  alone  had  not  joined 
the  stampede  in  our  direction. 

"How  do  you  like  being  popular  heroes? '^  he  grinned. 

Johnny  made  as  though  to  shy  a  rock  at  him,  whereupon 
he  ducked  below  ground. 

However,  our  spirits  soon  recovered.  We  dumped  the 
black  sand  into  a  Httle  sack  we  had  brought  for  the  purpose. 
It  made  quite  an  appreciable  bulge  in  that  sack.  We  did 
not  stop  to  realize  that  most  of  the  bulge  was  sack  and 
sand,  and  mighty  little  of  it  gold.  It  was  something 
tangible  and  valuable;  and  we  were  filled  with  a  tremendous 
desire  to  add  to  its  bulk. 

We  worked  with  entire  absorption,  quite  oblivious  to  all 
that  was  going  on  about  us.  It  was  only  by  ^.^cident 
that  Yank  looked  up  at  last,  so  I  do  not  know  how  long  Don 
Caspar  had  been  there. 

"Will  you  look  at  that!"  cried  Yank. 

Don  Caspar,  still  in  his  embroidered  boots,  his  crimson 
velvet  breeches,  his  white  linen,  and  his  sombrero,  but 
without  the  blue  and  silver  jacket,  was  busily  wielding 
a  pickaxe  a  hundred  feet  or  so  away.  His  companion,  or 
servant,  was  doing  the  heavier  shovel  work. 

"Why,  oh,  why!"  breathed  Johnny  at  last,  "do  you 
suppose,  if  he  must  mine,  he  doesn't  buy  himself  a  suit 
of  dungarees  or  a  flannel  shirt?  " 

"I'll  bet  it's  the  first  hard  work  he  ever  did  in  his  life," 
surmised  Yank. 

"And  I'll  bet  he  won't  do  that  very  long,"  I  guessed. 

But  Don  Caspar  seemed  to  have  more  sticking  power  than 
we  gave  him  credit  for.    We  did  not  pay  him  much  further 

167 


GOLD 

attention,  for  we  were  busy  with  our  own  affairs;  but  every 
time  we  glanced  in  his  direction  he  appeared  to  be  still 
at  it.  Our  sack  of  sand  was  growing  heavier;  as  indeed 
were  our  limbs.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we  had  been  at  harder 
work  than  any  of  us  had  been  accustomed  to,  for  very  long 
hours,  beneath  a  scorching  sun,  without  food,  and  under 
strong  excitement.  We  did  not  know  when  to  quit;  but 
the  sun  at  last  decided  it  for  us  by  dipping  below  the 
mountains  to  the  west. 

We  left  our  picks  and  shovels  in  our  pit;  but  carried 
back  with  us  our  pans,  for  in  them  we  wished  to  dry  out 
our  sand.  The  horses  were  still  at  their  picket  ropes; 
and  we  noticed  near  the  lower  end  of  the  meadow,  but 
within  the  bushes,  three  more  animals  moving  slowly.  A 
sUm  column  of  smoke  ascended  from  beyond  the  bushes. 
Evidently  we  had  neighbours. 

We  were  dog  tired,  and  so  far  starved  that  we  did 
not  know  we  were  hungry.  My  eyes  felt  as  though  they 
must  look  Hke  holes  burned  in  a  blanket.  We  lit  a  hre, 
and  near  it  placed  our  panful  of  sand.  But  we  did  not 
take  time  to  cook  ourselves  a  decent  meal;  we  were  much 
too  excited  for  that.  A  half-made  pot  of  coffee,  some  pork 
burned  crisp,  and  some  hard  bread  comprised  our  supper. 
Then  Yank  and  I  took  a  handful  of  the  dried  sand  in  the 
other  two  pans,  and  commenced  cautiously  to  blow  it 
away.  Johnny  hovered  over  us  full  of  suggestions,  and 
premonitions  of  calamity. 

"Don't  blow  too,  hard,  fellows,"  he  besought  us;  "you'll 
blow  away  the  gold!    For  heaven's  sake,  go  easy!" 

We  growled  at  him,  and  blew.  I  confess  that  my  heart 
went  fast  with  great  anxiety,  as  though  the  stakes  of 

i68 


THE    FIRST    GOLD 

my  correct  blowing  were  millions.    However,  as  we  later 
discovered,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  blow  incorrectly. 

There  is  something  really  a  little  awing  about  pure 
gold  new-bom  from  the  soil.  Gold  is  such  a  stable  article, 
so  strictly  guarded,  so  carefully  checked  and  counted,  that 
the  actual  production  of  metal  that  has  had  no  existence 
savours  almost  of  the  alchemical.  We  had  somewhat  less 
than  an  ounce,  to  be  sure;  but  that  amount  in  flake  gold 
bulks  considerably.  We  did  not  think  of  it  in  terms  of 
its  worth  in  dollars;  we  looked  on  it  only  as  the  Gold, 
and  we  stared  at  the  substantial  little  heap  of  yellow 
particles  with  fascinated  awe. 


169 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  DIGGINGS 

The  following  days  were  replicas  of  the  first.  We 
ate  hurriedly  at  odd  times;  we  worked  feverishly;  we  sank 
into  our  tumbled  blankets  at  night  too  tired  to  wiggle. 
But  the  buckskin  sack  of  gold  was  swelling  and  rounding 
out  most  satisfactorily.  By  the  end  of  the  week  it  con- 
tained over  a  pound! 

But  the  long  hours,  the  excitement,  and  the  inadequate 
food  told  on  our  nerves.  We  snapped  at  each  other  impa- 
tiently at  times;  and  once  or  twice  came  near  to  open 
quarrelling.  Johnny  and  I  were  constantly  pecking  at 
each  other  over  the  most  trivial  concerns. 

One  morning  we  were  halfway  to  the  bar  when  we 
remembered  that  we  had  neglected  to  picket  out  the 
horses.  It  was  necessary  for  one  of  us  to  go  back,  and 
we  were  all  reluctant  to  do  so. 

"I'll  be  damned  if  I'm  going  to  lug  'way  up  that  hill,'^ 
I  growled  to  myself.  "I  tied  them  up  yesterday,  any- 
way." 

Johnny  caught  this. 

"Well,  it  wasn't  your  turn  yesterday,"  he  pointed  out, 
"and  it  is  to-day.  I've  got  nothing  to  do  with  what  you 
chose  to  do  yesterday." 

"Or  any  other  day,"  I  muttered, 

170 


THE    DIGGINGS 

"What's  that?"  cried  Johnny  truculently.  ''I  couldn't 
hear.    Speak  up!" 

We  were  flushed,  and  eying  each  other  malevolently. 

"That'll  do!"  said  Yank,  with  an  unexpected  tone  of 
authority.  "Nobody  will  go  back  and  nobody  will  go 
ahead.  We'll  just  sit  down  on  this  log,  yere,  while  we 
smoke  one  pipe  apiece.    I've  got  something  to  say." 

Johnny  and  I  turned  on  him  with  a  certain  belligerency 
mingled  with  surprise.  Yank  had  so  habitually  acted 
the  part  of  taciturnity  that  his  decided  air  of  authority 
confused  us.  His  slouch  had  straightened,  his  head  was 
up,  his  mild  eye  sparkled.  Suddenly  I  felt  Hke  a  bad 
small  boy;  and  I  believe  Johnny  was  the  same.  After  a 
moment's  hesitation  we  sat  down  on  the  log. 

"Now,"  said  Yank  firmly,  "it's  about  time  we  took 
Stock.  We  been  here  now  five  days;  we  ain't  had  a  decent 
meal  of  vittles  in  that  time;  we  ain't  fixed  up  our  camp 
a  mite;  we  ain't  been  to  town  to  see  the  sights;  we  don't 
even  know  the  looks  of  the  man  that's  camped  down  below 
us.  We've  been  too  danged  busy  to  be  decent.  Now 
we're  goin'  to  call  a  halt.  I  should  jedge  we  have  a  pound 
of  gold,  or  tharabouts.  How  much  is  that  worth,  Johnny? 
You  can  figger  in  yore  head." 

"Along  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,"  said 
Johnny  after  a  moment. 

"Well,  keep  on  figgerin'.  How  much  does  that  come 
to  apiece?" 

"About  eighty  dollars,  of  course." 

"And  dividin'  eighty  by  five?  "  persisted  Yank. 

'Sixteen." 

171 


GOLD 

"Well,"  drawled  Yank,  his  steely  blue  eye  softening 
to  a  twinkle,  "sixteen  dollars  a  day  is  fair  wages,  to 
be  sure;  but  nothin'  to  get  wildly  excited  over/*  He 
surveyed  the  two  of  us  with  some  humour.  "Hadn't 
thought  of  it  that  way,  had  you?"  he  asked.  "Nuther 
had  I  until  last  night.  I  was  so  dog  tired  I  couldn't  sleep, 
and  I  got  to  figgerin'  a  Kttle  on  my  own  hook." 

"Why,  I  can  do  better  than  that  in  San  Francisco  — 
with  half  the  work!"  I  cried. 

"Maybe  for  a  while,"  said  Yank,  "but  here  we  got  a 
chance  to  make  a  big  strike  most  any  time;  and  in  the 
meantime  to  make  good  wages.  But  we  ain't  going  to  do  it 
any  quicker  by  kiUin'  ourselves.  Now  to-day  is  Sunday. 
I  ain't  no  religious  man;  but  Sunday  is  a  good  day  to 
quit.  I  propose  we  go  back  to  camp  peaceable,  make  a 
decent  place  to  stay,  cook  ourselves  up  a  squar'  meal, 
wash  out  our  clothes,  visit  the  next  camp,  take  a  look 
at  town,  and  enjoy  ourselves." 

Thus  vanished  the  first  and  most  w^onderful  rom^ance 
of  the  gold.  Reduced  to  wages  it  was  somehow  no  longer 
so  marvellous.  The  element  of  uncertainty  was  always 
there,  to  be  sure;  and  an  inexplicable  fascination;  but 
no  longer  had  we  any  desire  to  dig  up  the  whole  place 
immediately.  I  suppose  we  moved  nearly  as  much  earth, 
but  the  fibres  of  our  minds  were  relaxed,  and  we  did  it 
more  easily  and  with  less  nervous  wear  and  tear. 

Also,  as  Yank  suggested,  we  took  pains  to  search  out 
our  fellow  beings.  The  camper  below  us  proved  to  be  Don 
Caspar,  velvet  breeches  and  all.  He  received  us  hospi- 
tably, and  proffered  perfumed  cigarettos  which  we  did  not 

172 


THE    DIGGINGS 

like,  but  which  we  smoked  out  of  politeness.  Our  common 
ground  of  meeting  was  at  first  the  natural  one  of  the  gold 
diggings.  Don  Caspar  and  his  man,  whom  he  called 
Vasquez,  had  produced  somewhat  less  flake  gold  than 
ourselves,  but  exhibited  a  half-ounce  nugget  and  several 
smaller  lumps.  We  could  not  make  him  out.  Neither 
his  appearance  nor  his  personal  equipment  suggested 
iiecessity;  and  yet  he  laboured  as  hard  as  the  rest  of  us. 
His  gaudy  costume  was  splashed  and  grimy  with  the  red 
mud,  although  evidently  he  had  made  some  attempt  to 
brush  it.  The  Hnen  was,  of  course,  hopeless.  He  showed 
us  the  blisters  on  his  small  aristocratic-looking  hands. 

"It  is  the  hard  work"  he  stated  simply,  "but  one  gets 
the  gold." 

From  that  subject  we  passed  on  to  horses.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  was  uneasy  as  to  the  safety  of  his  own  mag- 
nificent animals;  and  succeeded  in  alarming  us  as  to 
our  own. 

"Thos*  Indian,"  he  told  us,  "are  always  out  to  essteal; 
and  the  paisanos.  It  has  been  tole  me  that  Andreas  Ami  jo 
and  his  robbers  are  near.    Some  day  we  loose  our  horse!" 

Our  anxiety  at  this  time  was  given  an  edge  by  the  fact 
that  the  horses,  having  fed  well,  and  becoming  tired  of  the 
same  place,  were  inclined  to  stray.  It  was  impossible 
to  keep  them  always  on  picket  lines  —  the  nature  of  the 
meadow  would  not  permit  it  —  and  they  soon  learned  to 
be  very  clever  with  their  hobbles.  Several  mornings  we 
put  in  an  hour  or  so  hunting  them  up  and  bringing  them 
in  before  we  could  start  work  for  the  day.  This  wasted 
both  time  and  temper.    The  result  was  that  we  drifted 

X73 


GOLD 

into  partnership  with  Don  Caspar  and  Vasquez.  I  do 
not  remember  who  proposed  the  arrangement;  indeed,  I 
am  inclined  to  think  it  just  came  about  naturally  from  our 
many  discussions  on  the  subject.  Under  the  terms  of  it 
we  appointed  Vasquez  to  cook  all  the  meals,  take  full  care 
of  the  horses,  chop  the  wood,  draw  the  water,  and  keep 
camp  generally.  The  rest  of  us  worked  in  couples  at  the 
bar.     We  divided  the  gold  into  five  equal  parts. 

Our  production  at  this  time  ran  from  five  to  seven  ounces 
a  day,  which  was,  of  course,  good  wages,  but  would  not 
make  our  fortunes.  We  soon  fell  into  a  rut,  working 
cheerfully  and  interestedly,  but  without  excitement.  The 
nature  of  our  produce  kept  our  attention.  We  should  long 
since  have  wearied  of  any  other  job  requiring  an  equal 
amount  of  work,  but  there  was  a  never-ending  fascination 
in  blowing  away  the  debris  from  the  virgin  gold.  And  one 
day,  not  far  from  us,  two  Hollanders  —  ''Dutch  Charleys," 
as  the  miners  called  that  nationahty  —  scooped  from  a 
depression  in  the  bedrock  mixed  coarse  gold  thirty  odd 
pounds  in  weight  —  over  $5 ,000 !  That  revived  our  interest, 
you  may  be  sure. 

Most  of  the  miners  seemed  content  to  stick  to  panning. 
Their  argument  was  that  by  this  method  they  could 
accumulate  a  fair  amount  of  dust,  and  ran  just  as  good 
chances  of  a  "strike"  as  the  next  fellow.  Furthermore,  they 
had  no  tools,  no  knowledge  and  no  time  to  make  cradles. 
Those  implements  had  to  be  very  accurately  constructed. 

We  discussed  this  matter  almost  every  evening.  Yank 
was  a  great  believer  in  improving  the  efficiency  of  our 
equipment. 

174 


THE    DIGGINGS 

''It'll  handle  four  or  five  times  the  dirt/*  said  he  "and 
that  means  four  or  five  times  the  dust." 

"There's  no  lumber  to  be  had  anywhere/'  T  objected 

*T  know  where  there's  three  good  stout  boxes  made 
of  real  lumber  that  we  can  get  for  forty  dollars/'  said  Yank 

"You  can't  cut  that  stuff  up  with  an  axe." 

"John  Semple  has  a  saw,  a  plane,  and  a  hammer;  he's  a 
^carpenter." 

"  You  bet  he  is  1 "  agreed  Johnny.  "  I  was  talking  to  him 
last  night.  He  won't  lend  his  tools ;  and  he  won't  hire  them. 
He'll  come  with  them  for  fifty  dollars  a  day." 

"AU  right,"  said  Yank,  "let's  hire  him.  I'm  pretty 
handy,  and  I'll  stay  right  in  camp  and  help  him.  Vasquez 
can  go  dig  instead  of  me.  We  can  get  'em  cut  out  and 
fitted  in  two  days,  anyway.     We've  got  the  money ! ' ' 

I  think  none  of  us  was  very  enthusiastic  on  this  subject 
except  Yank;  but  he  finally  carried  the  day.  Vasquez, 
somewhat  to  his  chagrin,  I  thought,  resumed  his  shovel. 
Yank  and  John  Semple  tinkered  away  for  the  allotted  two 
days,  and  triumphantly  produced  two  cradles  at  a  cost 
of  a  round  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Although  we  had  been  somewhat  doubtful  as  to  the 
advisability  of  spending  this  sum,  I  am  bound  to  state 
that  Yank's  insistence  was  justified.  It  certainly  made 
the  work  easier.  We  took  turns  shovelling  the  earth  and 
pouring  in  the  water,  and  "rocking  the  baby."  Our  pro- 
duction jumped  two  or  three  ounces  a  day. 


175 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
BEGINNINGS  OF  GOVERNMENT 

Our  visit  to  the  town  we  postponed  from  day  to  day 
because  we  were  either  too  busy  or  too  tired.  We  thought 
we  could  about  figure  out  what  that  crude  sort  of  village 
would  be  like.  Then  on  Saturday  evening  our  neighbour 
with  the  twinkling  eye  — whom  we  called  McNally,  without 
conviction,  because  he  told  us  to  —  informed  us  that  there 
would  be  a  miners'  meeting  next  day,  and  that  we  would 
be  expected  to  attend. 

Accordingly  we  visited  the  town.  The  street  was  full 
of  men  idhng  slowly  to  and  fro.  All  the  larger  structures 
were  wide  open,  and  from  within  could  be  heard  the  sounds 
of  hurdy-gurdies,  loud  laughter  and  noisy  talk.  At  one 
end  of  the  street  a  group  was  organizing  a  horse  race; 
and  toward  this  Don  Caspar  took  his  immediate  departure. 
A  smaller  group  surrounded  two  wrestlers.  At  one  side  a 
jumping  match  was  going  on. 

Among  the  usual  incongruities  we  saw  some  that 
amused  us  more  than  ordinarily.  The  Indians,  for  ex- 
ample, were  rather  numerous,  and  remarkable.  One 
wore  as  his  sole  garment  an  old  dress  coat:  another  had 
tied  a  pair  of  trousers  around  his  waist;  a  third  had  piled 
a  half  dozen  hats  atop,  one  over  the  other;  and  many  had 
on  two  or  more  coats.    They  were,  to  a  man,  well  drunkeiir 

176 


BEGINNINGS    OF    GOVERNMENT 

Their  squaws,  fat  and  unattractive,  squatted  outside  the 
single  store  of  the  place.  We  saw  also  a  dozen  or  so  white 
men  dressed  very  plainly  and  shabbily,  tall,  lank,  and 
spindly,  rather  weakly  in  general  appearance,  their  faces 
sallow,  their  eyes  rather  childish  but  crafty  and  treacherous, 
their  hair  thin  and  straight.  The  points  in  common  were 
pointed,  nearly  brimless  hats,  like  small  extinguishers,  and 
that  they  were  the  only  men  to  use  suspenders.  They  were 
from  Pike  County  in  Missouri;  and  in  our  experience  with 
them  we  found  their  appearance  a  cl^^^  indication  of  their 
character.  They  were  exceedingly  skilful  with  both  axe 
and  rifle,  were  expert  backwoodsmen,  but  without  physical 
strength,  very  childish  and  ignorant,  vindictive,  narrow, 
and  so  extremely  clannish  and  tenacious  of  their  own 
opinions  that  they  were  always  an  exasperating  element  to 
be  reckoned  with,  in  any  public  matter.  We  saw  also  a 
compact  Httle  group  of  dark  small  men,  with  bright  eyes 
and  quick  manners.  They  held  close  together  and  chat- 
tered like  a  lot  of  magpies.  McNally,  who  had  spotted  us 
from  afar,  informed  us  that  these  were  ^'keskydees,"  and 
that  they  always  did  stick  close  together. 

^*  What  are  ^kesky dees'?  "  I  asked  him. 

"That's  what  everybody  calls  them,"  said  McNally. 
"I  suppose  it's  because  they  always  say  it,  'Keskydee, 
keskydee,'  like  a  lot  of  chickadees." 

*' French!"  cried  Johnny,  suddenly  enlightened.  "()' 
estce  quHl  dit.^' 

"Yes,  that's  it,"  agreed  McNally;  "keskydee.  What 
does  it  mean,  anjnvay?  " 

"What  is  he  saying,"  translated  Johnny. 

177 


GOLD 

At  this  time  there  were  a  great  many  French  in  Califor- 
ma;  and  for  a  number  of  years  I  could  not  quite  understand 
:vhy.  Then  I  learned  that  most  of  them  were  prize 
winners  in  a  series  of  lotteries,  called  the  Lotteries  of  the 
Golden  Ingot.  The  prizes  were  passages  to  California, 
and  the  lotteries  were  very  popular.  The  French,  or 
keskydees,  as  they  were  universally  called,  always  went 
about  in  gangs,  while  the  other  nationaHties  were  more 
inchned  to  amalgamate  with  the  rest  of  the  community. 
We  saw,  also,  several  *^  Dutch  Charleys"  who  had  struck 
it  rich.  They  were  moon-faced,  bland,  chuckle-headed 
looking  men,  generally  with  walrus  moustaches,  squat 
and  heavy,  with  fatuous,  placid  smiles.  I  suppose  they 
had  no  real  idea  of  values,  but  knew  only  the  difference 
between  having  money  and  not  having  money.  These 
prosperous  individuals  carried  two  or  even  more  watches 
at  the  ends  of  long  home-made  chains  constructed  of  gold 
/luggets  fastened  together  with  lengths  of  copper  wire. 
The  chains  were  looped  around  their  necks,  about  their 
shoulders  and  waists,  and  hung  down  in  long  festoons. 
We  had  three  apparently,  of  these  Dutch  Charleys,  all 
deadly  rivals  in  magnificence.  They  paraded  slowly  up 
and  down  the  street,  quite  satisfied  with  themselves, 
and  casting  malevolent  glances  at  each  other  when  they 
passed. 

The  two  gambling  places  and  saloons  were  hard  at  it. 
The  low  rooms  were  full  of  smoke,  and  crowded  with 
slowly  jostling  men.  In  contrast  to  the  deadly  quiet 
of  such  places  in  San  Francisco,  these  were  full  of  noise 
and  hubbub.    The  men  moved  restlessly,  threw  down  their 

178 


BEGINNINGS    OF    GOVERNMENT 

little  bags  of  dust  impatiently,  and  accepted  victory  or 
defeat  with  very  audible  comments.  The  gamblers, 
dressed  in  black,  pale,  sat  steady-eyed  and  silent  behind 
their  layouts.  I  suppose  the  life  must  already  have 
developed,  if  not  a  type,  at  least  a  uniform  mental  attitude 
that  showed  itself  in  outward  expression.  That  was,  first 
of  all,  an  intent,  quiet  watchfulness;  and,  secondly,  an 
iron  resolution  to  meet  whatever  offered.  The  gambler 
must  be  prepared  instantly  to  shoot;  and  at  the  same  time 
he  must  realize  fully  that  shooting  is  going  to  get  him 
in  trouble.  For  the  sympathy  of  a  mining  camp  was 
generally  strongly  against  him  when  it  came  to  a  question 
of  this  sort.  We  treated  ourselves  to  a  drink  at  the  bar, 
and  went  outside. 

Already  the  drift  of  miners  was  toward  the  end  of  the 
street  where  a  good  sized  crowd  had  gathered.  We  fell  in. 
Under  a  large  oak  tree  had  been  placed  a  barrel  and  several 
boxes  from  the  store,  and  on  these  latter  our  friend  John 
Semple,  the  carpenter,  was  mounting. 

"John's  the  alcalde,^^  McNally  explained  to  us.  "He's 
the  most  level-headed  man  in  these  diggings. 

Most  of  the  miners  sat  down  on  the  ground  in  front, 
though  some  remained  afoot.  Semple  rapped  sharply 
on  the  barrel  with  the  muzzle  of  his  revolver. 

"This  is  a  miners'  meeting,"  he  stated  briefly.  "And 
we  have  several  things  to  talk  about.  Most  important 
thing,  'cordin'  to  my  notion,  is  this  row  about  that  big 
nugget.  Seems  these  yere  three  men,  whose  names  I  dis- 
remember,  is  partners  and  is  panning  down  there  in  the 
lower  diggings,  and  while  one  of  them  is  grubbing  around 

179 


GOLD 

with  a  shovel  getting  ready  to  fill  the  company  pan,  he 
sees  this  yere  nugget  in  the  shovel,  and  annexes  it.  Now 
he  claims  it's  his  nugget,  and  the  rest  of  'em  claim  it 
belongs  to  all  of  them  as  partners.    How  about  it?" 

Two  men  sprang  to  their  feet  and  began  to  talk. 

**You  set  down!"  Semple  ordered  them.  "You  ain't 
got  nothing  to  do  with  decidin'  this.  We'll  let  you  know 
what  to  do.  If  the  facts  ain't  right,  as  I  stated  'em, 
say  so;  but  we  don't  want  no  theories  out  of  you.  Set 
down!  I  say." 

They  subsided,  and  a  silence  fell  which  no  one  seemed 
inclined  to  break. 

**  Well,"  said  Semple  impatiently,  "come  on!  Speak  up  I 
Whar's  all  this  assorted  lot  of  theories  I  been  hearing  in  the 
say-loons  ever  since  that  nugget  was  turned  up?  " 

A  man  with  the  most  extraordinarily  ragged  garments 
got  to  his  feet  and  began  to  speak  in  a  pleasant  and  culti- 
vated voice. 

"I  have  no  solution  to  offer  this  company,"  said  he, 
"  but  I  am,  or  was,  a  New  York  lawyer ;  and  if  my  knowledge 
of  partnerships  will  help  any,  this  is  the  New  York  law." 
He  sketched  briefly  the  New  York  rulings  on  partnerships, 
and  sat  down. 

"Much  obliged,  I'm  sure,"  said  Semple  cordially. 
"We 're  glad  to  know  how  they've  figgered  it  out  down  thar. 
Only  trouble,  as  far  as  I  see,  is  that  they  ain't  usually 
findin'  many  nuggets  down  that  neck  of  the  woods;  so 
they  ain't  precisely  fitted  the  case.  Anybody  know  any- 
thing nearer  to  home?" 

"I  panned  in  Shirttail  Bar  last  two  months,"  blurted 

i8o 


BEGINNINGS    OF    GOVERNMENT 

a  hoarse  and  embarrassed  individual,  without  rising, 
"and  down  thai  they  had  a  reg'lation  that  airy  nugget 
that  weighs  over  a  half  ounce  that  is  found  before  the 
dirt  is  thrown  in  the  cradle  belongs  to  the  man  that  finds 
it,  and  not  to  the  company.  Of  course  this  here  is  a  pan, 
and  not  a  cradle." 

"That's  more  like  business.  Anybody  know  if  anywhar 
Ihey  do  it  the  other  way  around?  " 

Apparently  nobody  did. 

"Anybody  got  any  idees  as  to  why  we  shouldn't  fol- 
low Shirttail  in  this  matter?  Dog-gone  you!  Set  down! 
You  ain't  got  nothin'  to  say  here." 

The  man  appealed  to  the  crowd. 

"Ain't  I  got  a  right  to  be  heard  in  my  own  case?"  he 
demanded. 

"This  ain't  your  case,"  persisted  John  Semple  stoutly; 
"it*s  decidin'  what  the  policy  of  this  camp  is  goin'  to  be 
regardin'  nuggets.  Your  dog-gone  case  is  mighty  unim- 
portant and  you're  a  prejudiced  party.  And  if  you  don't 
set  down,  I'll  come  down  there  and  argue  with  you!  If 
none  of  you  other  fellows  has  anything  to  say,  we'll  vote 
on  it." 

We  then  and  there  decided,  almost  unanimously,  to 
follow  Shirttail. 

"Now,"  resumed  Semple,  after  this  matter  had  been 
disposed  of,  "there's  a  bunch  of  these  yere  keskydees 
around  throwin'  assorted  duckfits  all  this  morning;  and 
as  near  as  I  can  make  out  they  say  somebody's  jumped 
their  claim  or  their  camp,  or  something.  Jim,  supposin' 
you  and  your  tin  star  saunter  down  and  eject  these  jumpers." 

xSi 


r  GOLD 

A  very  tall,  quiet,  slow  moving  man  arose,  aimed  his 
tobacco  juice  at  a  small  tree,  drawled  out  the  words,  "All 
right,  Jedge,"  and  departed,  trailed  by  ahalf  dozen  jabbering 
keskydees,  to  whom  he  paid  not  the  slightest  attention. 

"Now,"  said  Semple,  "we  got  a  couple  of  Greasers  yere 
caught  stealing  Buck  Barry  and  Missouri  Jones  caught 
them  at  it,  so  there  ain't  much  use  hearin'  witnesses  as  to 
the  fact.     Question  is :  what  do  we  want  to  do  with  them?  " 

* '  What  did  they  steal? ' '  demanded  a  voice. 

"They  just  nat'rally  didn't  steal  nothin\^^  said  a  heavy 
built,  square-jawed,  clean-shaven  man  whom  I  guessed 
to  be  Buck  Barry.     "Not  while  I  was  around." 

"Yes,"  persisted  the  other,  "but  what  was  they  after." 

"Oh,  an  extry  pair  of  boots,  and  a  shirt,  and  some 
tobacco,  et  cetery,"  replied  Buck  Barry  contemptuously. 

"Let's  see  them,"  shouted  several  voices. 

After  a  moment's  delay  two  ragged  and  furtive  Mexicans 
were  dragged  before  the  assembly.  A  contemplative 
silence  ensued.  Then  an  elderly  man  with  a  square  gray 
beard  spoke  up. 

"Well,"  said  he  deliberately,  "airy  man  so  low  down 
and  shif 'less  and  miserable  as  to  go  to  stealin'  boots  and 
shirts  and  tobacco  in  this  camp  is  shore  outside  my  corral. 
He  sure  must  be  a  miserable  person.  Why'n  hell  didn't 
Buck  and  Missou  give  him  a  few  lifts  with  the  toes  of 
their  boots,  and  not  come  botherin'  us  with  them?  " 

Both  Barry  and  Jones  started  to  reply,  but  Sem.ple 
cut  them  short. 

"They  was  going  to  do  just  that,"  he  announced,  "but 
I  persuaded  them  to  bring  this  matter  up  before  this  meetin', 

182 


BEGINNINGS    OF    GOVERNMENT 

because  we  got  to  begin  to  take  some  measures  to  stop  this 
kind  of  a  nuisance.  There's  a  lot  of  undesirables  driftin' 
into  this  camp  lately.  You  boys  all  recall  how  last  fall 
we  kep'  our  dust  under  our  bunks  or  most  anywhere,  and 
felt  perfectly  safe  about  it;  but  that  ain't  now.  A  man 
has  to  carry  his  dust  right  with  him.  Now,  if  we  can't 
leave  our  tents  feehng  our  goods  is  safe,  what  do  you  expect 
to  do  about  it?  We  got  to  throw  the  fear  of  God  into  the 
black  hearts  of  these  hounds." 

At  this  juncture  Jim,  the  sheriff,  returned  and  leaned 
nonchalantly  against  a  tree,  chewing  a  straw. 

Accepting  the  point  of  view  advanced  by  the  chair,  the 
miners  decided  that  the  two  thieves  should  be  whipped 
and  banished  from  camp.  A  strong  feeling  prevailed 
that  any  man  who,  in  this  age  of  plenty,  would  descend  to 
petty  thieving,  was  a  poor,  miserable  creature  to  be  pitied. 
Some  charitably  inclined  individual  actually  took  up  a 
{small  collection  which  was  presented  to  the  thieves  after 
they  had  received  their  punishment. 

"And  now,  vamos,  git!"  advised  Semple.  "And  spread 
the  glad  tidings.  We'll  do  the  same  by  any  more  of  you. 
Well,  Jim?"  he  inquired  of  the  sheriff. 

Jim  shifted  his  straw  from  the  right  comer  of  his  mouth 
to  the  left. 

"That  outfit  don't  eject  worth  a  cuss,"  said  he  laconi- 
cally. 

"How  many  of  them  is  there?  "  asked  Semple. 

"Two  —  and  a  shotgun,"  stated  Jim. 

"I  reckon  we'll  eject  them  if  we  say  *  eject' !'^  cried  some 
one  truculently;  and  several  others  growled  assent. 

i«3 


GOLD 

Jim  cast  a  humorous  eye  in  that  direction. 

"Oh,  I  reckon  I'm  ekal  to  the  job,"  said  he,  "and  is 
you  say '  eject'  again,  why  out  they  go.  Only  when  I  looked 
that  outfit  over,  and  saw  they  was  only  two  of  them  and  six 
of  these  jabbering  keskydees,  why,  I  jest  nat'rally  wondered 
whether  it  was  by  and  according  to  the  peace  and  dignity 
of  this  camp  to  mix  up  in  that  kind  of  a  muss.  I  should 
think  they  ought  to  be  capable  of  doin'  their  own  ejecting." 

A  discussion  arose  on  this  point.  The  sentiment  seemed 
unanimous  that  the  Frenchmen  ought  to  have  been  able  to 
protect  themselves,  but  was  divided  on  the  opinion  as  to 
how  far  the  camp  was  now  committed  to  action. 

"They'll  think  they've  bluffed  us  out,  if  we  drop  her 
BOW,"  argued  one  side. 

"It  ought  not  to  be  the  policy  of  this  camp  to  mix  up 
with  private  quarrels,"  argued  the  other. 

John  Semple  decided  the  question. 

"It  looks  like  we're  in  the  hole,"  he  admitted,  "and 
have  got  to  do  something.  Now,  I  tell  you  what  I'm  going 
to  do:  I'm  going  to  have  Jim  here  give  these  keskydees 
blank  warrants  that  they  can  serve  themselves,  and  to  suit 
themselves." 

This  ingenious  solution  was  very  highly  commended. 

"Unless  somebody  else  has  something  to  bring  up,  I 
^uess  that's  about  all,"  announced  Semple. 

"No  inquests?"  some  one  asked. 

"  Nary  an  inquest.  This  camp  is  gettin'  healthy.  Ad- 
journed!" And  the  meeting  was  brought  to  a  formal 
•conclusion  by  a  tap  of  the  pistol  on  the  empty  barrel. 


tH 


CHAPTER  XDC 
SUNDAY  AT  HANGMAN'S  GULCH 

It  was  now  about  four  o'clock.  The  crowd  dispersed 
slowly  in  different  directions,  and  to  its  different  occu- 
pations and  amusements.  We  wandered  about,  all  eyes 
and  ears.  As  yet  we  had  not  many  acquaintances,  and 
could  not  enter  into  the  intimate  bantering  life  of  the 
old-timers.  There  was  enough  to  interest  us,  however. 
A  gKjod  many  were  beginning  to  show  the  drink.  After  a 
long  period  of  hard  labour  even  the  most  respectable  of 
the  miners  would  have  at  times  strange  reactions.  That  is 
another  tale,  however;  and  on  this  Sunday  the  drinking 
was  productive  only  of  considerable  noise  and  boasting. 
Two  old  codgers,  head  to  head,  were  bragging  laboriously 
of  their  prowess  as  cooks.  A  small  but  interested  group 
egged  them  on. 

"Flapjacks?"  enunciated  one  laboriously;  "flapjacks? 
Why,  my  fren',  you  don't  know  nothin'  about  flap- 
jacks. I  grant  you,"  said  he,  laying  one  hand  on  the 
other's  arm,  "I  grant  ye  that  maybe,  maybe,  mind  you, 
you  may  know  about  mixin'  flapjacks,  and  even  about 
cookin^  flapjacks.  But  wha'  do  you  know  about  flippin* 
flapjacks?^'  He  removed  his  hand  from  the  other's 
arm.  "Nawthin!"  said  he.  "Now  /  am  an  exper';  a 
real  exper*!    When  I  want  to  flip  a  flapjack  I  just  whirl 

i»5 


GOLD 

her  up  through  the  chimney  and  catch  her  by  holdin' 
the  frying  pan  out'n  the  window ! " 

I  found  at  another  point  a  slender,  beardless  young 
chap,  with  bright  black  eyes,  and  hectic  cheeks,  engaged 
in  sketching  one  of  the  miners  who  posed  before  him. 
His  touch  was  swift  and  sure,  and  his  faculty  at  catching  a 
likeness  remarkable.  The  sketch  was  completed  and  paid 
for  in  ten  minutes;  and  he  was  immediately  besieged  by 
offers  from  men  who  wanted  pictures  of  themselves  or  their 
camps.  He  told  me,  between  strokes  of  the  pencil,  that 
he  found  this  sort  of  thing  more  remunerative  than  the 
mining  for  which  he  had  come  to  the  country,  as  he  could 
not  stand  the  necessary  hard  work.  Paper  cost  him  two 
dollars  and  a  half  a  sheet;  but  that  was  about  all  his 
expense.  Alongside  the  street  a  very  red-faced,  bulbous- 
nosed  and  ancient  ruin  with  a  patriarchal  wdiite  beard  was 
preparing  to  give  phrenological  readings.  I  had  seen 
him  earlier  in  the  day,  and  had  been  amused  at  his  im- 
pressive glib  patter.  Now,  however,  he  had  become 
foolishly  drunk.  He  mounted  the  same  boxes  that  had 
served  as  the  executive  desk,  and  invited  custom.  After 
a  moment's  hesitation  a  burly,  red-faced  miner  shouldered 
his  way  through  the  group  and  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the 
boxes. 

In  the  earlier  and  soberer  part  of  the  afternoon 
the  phrenologist  had  skilfully  steered  his  way  by  the 
safe  stars  of  flattery.  Now,  as  he  ran  his  hands  uncertainly 
through  the  miner's  thick  hair,  a  look  of  mystification 
crept  into  his  bleary  eyes.    He  felt  again  more  carefully. 

"Most  'xtraor 'Diary!"  he  muttered.    "Fren's,"  said  he, 

i86 


SUNDAY  AT  HANGMAN'S  GULCH 

still  feeling  at  the  man's  head,  ^'this  person  has  the  most 
extraor'nary  bump  of  'quisitiveness.  Never  felt  one 
like  it,  'xcept  on  th'  cranium  of  a  very  celebrated  thief 
an'  robber.  His  bump  of  benev'lence  's  a  reg'lar  hole. 
Bimip  of  truthfulness  don'  somehow  seem  to  be  there  at  all. 
Bump  of  cowardice  is  's  big  's  an  egg.  This  man,  fren's," 
said  he,  dropping  the  victim's  head  and  advancing  impres- 
sively, "is  a  very  dangerous  character.  Look  out  for  'm. 
He's  a  liar,  an'  a  thief,  an'  a  coward,  an '  a " 

''Well,  you  old  son  of  a  gun!"  howled  the  miner,  rising 
to  his  feet. 

He  seized  the  aged  phrenologist,  and  flung  him  bodily 
straight  through  the  sides  of  a  large  tent,  and  immediately 
dove  after  him  in  pursuit.  There  came  from  that  tent 
a  series  of  crashes,  howls  of  rage  and  joy,  the  sounds  of 
violent  scuffling,  and  then  there  burst  out  through  the 
doorway  the  thoroughly  sobered  phrenologist,  his  white 
beard  streaming  over  one  shoulder,  his  pop  eyes  bulging 
out,  his  bulbous  nose  quite  purple,  pursued  by  the  angry 
miner  and  a  score  of  the  overjoyed  populace  interrupted 
in  their  gambling.  Everybody  but  the  two  principals  was 
gasping  with  laughter.  It  looked  as  though  the  miner 
might  do  his  victim  a  serious  injury,  so  I  caught  the  pursuer 
around  the  shoulders  and  held  him  fast.  He  struggled 
violently,  but  was  no  match  for  my  bulk,  and  I  restrained 
him  imtil  he  had  cooled  down  somewhat,  and  had  ceased 
trying  to  bite  and  kick  me.  Then  all  at  once  he  laughed, 
and  I  released  him.  Of  the  phrenologist  nothing  remained 
but  a  thin  cloud  of  dust  hanging  in  the  still  air. 

Yank  and  I  then  thought  of  going  back  to  camp,  and 

187 


GOLD 

began  to  look  around  after  Johnny,  who  had  disappeared, 
when  McNally  rolled  up,  inviting  us  to  sup  with  him. 

''You  don't  want  to  go  home  yet,"  he  advised  us. 
*'  Evening's  the  time  to  have  fun.  Never  mind  your  friend; 
he's  all  right.  Now  you  realize  the  disadvantage  of  living 
way  off  where  you  do.  My  hang-out  is  just  down  the 
street.    Let's  have  a  drink." 

We  accepted  both  his  invitations.  Then,  after  the 
supper,  pipes  alight,  we  sauntered  down  the  street,  a  vast 
leisure  expanding  our  horizons.  At  the  street  comer  stood 
a  tall,  poetic-looking  man,  with  dreamer's  eyes,  a  violin 
clasped  imder  his  chin.  He  was  looking  straight  past  us 
all  out  into  the  dusk  of  the  piney  moimtains  beyond,  his 
soul  in  the  music  he  was  producing.  They  were  simple 
melodies,  full  of  sentiment,  and  he  played  as  though  he 
loved  them.  Witliin  the  sound  of  his  bow  a  dead  silence 
reigned.  Men  stood  with  eyes  cast  down,  their  faces 
sobered,  their  eyes  adream.  One  burly,  reckless,  red- 
faced  individual,  who  had  been  bullying  it  up  and  down 
the  street,  broke  into  a  sob  which  he  violently  suppressed, 
and  then  looked  about  fiercely,  as  though  challenging 
any  one  to  have  heard.  The  player  finished,  tucked  his 
violin  and  bow  under  his  arm,  and  turned  away.  For  a 
moment  the  crowd  remained  motionless,  then  slowly  dis- 
persed. This  was  John  Kelly,  a  famous  wandering  minstrel 
of  the  camps,  a  strange,  shy,  poetic  man,  who  never  lacked 
for  dust  nor  for  friends,  and  who  apparently  sought  for 
neither. 

Under  the  softening  influence  of  the  music  the  crowd 
led  a  better  life  for  about  ten  minutes. 

i8S 


SUNDAY  AT  HANGMAN'S  GULCH 

Wc  entered  the  gambling  rooms,  of  which  there  were  two, 
and  had  a  drink  of  what  McNally  called  "42  calibre 
whiskey"  at  the  bar  of  each.  In  one  of  them  we  found 
Johnny,  rather  flushed,  bucking  a  faro  bank.  Yank  sug- 
gested that  he  join  us,  but  he  shook  his  head  impatiently, 
and  we  moved  on.  In  a  tremendous  tent  made  by  joining 
three  or  four  ordinary  tents  together,  a  very  lively  fiddle 
and  concertina  were  in  full  blast.  We  entered  and  were 
pounced  upon  by  a  boisterous  group  of  laughing  men, 
seized  by  the  shoulders,  whirled  about,  and  examined  from 
behind. 

"Two  gentlemen  and  a  lady!"  roared  out  one  of  them. 
"Gentlemen  on  that  side;  ladies  on  this.  See-lect  your 
pardners  for  the  waltz ! " 

There  was  a  great  rushing  to  and  fro  in  preparation. 
Men  bowed  to  each  other  with  burlesque  dancing  school 
formality,  offered  arms,  or  accepted  them  with  bearlike 
coyness.  W^e  stood  for  a  moment  rather  bewildered,  not 
knowmg  precisely  what  to  do. 

"You  belong  over  that  side,"  McNally  instructed  us. 
"I  go  over  here;  I'm  a  4ady.' " 

"Why?"  I  asked. 

"Ladies,"  explained  McNally,  "are  those  who  have 
patches  on  the  seats  of  their  pants." 

As  in  most  social  gatherings,  we  saw  that  here  too  the 
fair  sex  were  in  the  majority. 

Everybody  danced  very  vigorously,  with  a  tremendous 
amount  of  stamping.  It  seemed  a  strenuous  occupation 
after  a  week  of  hard  work,  and  yet  it  was  great  fun. 
Yank  pirouetted  and  balanced  and  "sasshayed"  and  tom- 

x«9 


GOLD 

fooled  in  a  manner  wonderful  to  behold.  We  ended 
flushed  and  uproarious;  and  all  trooped  to  the  bar,  which, 
it  seemed,  was  the  real  reason  for  the  existence  of  this 
dance  hall. 

The  crowd  was  rough  and  good  natured,  full  of  high 
spirits,  and  incUned  to  practical  jokes  of  a  pretty  stiff 
character.  Of  course  there  was  the  inevitable  bully, 
swaggering  fiercely  and  truculently  back  and  forth,  his 
belt  full  of  weapons.  Nobody  took  him  very  seriously; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  everybody  seemed  to  take  mighty 
good  care  not  to  run  definitely  counter  to  him.  In  the 
course  of  his  wanderings  he  came  to  our  end  of  the  bar,  and 
jostled  McNally  aside.  McNally  was  at  the  moment 
lighting  his  pipe,  so  that  in  his  one  hand  he  held  a  burning 
match  and  in  the  other  a  glass  of  whiskey.  Without  the 
sHghtest  hurry  or  excitement,  his  blue  eyes  twinkling  as 
humorously  as  ever,  McNally  dumped  the  whiskey  over 
the  bully's  shock  head  with  his  left  hand  and  touched  the 
match  to  it  with  his  right.  The  alcohol  sizzled  up  in  a 
momentary  blue  flame,  without  damage  save  for  a  very 
singed  head  of  hair. 

^'Man  on  fire!  Man  on  fire!"  yelled  McNally.  "Put 
him  out  !"^ 

The  miners  rose  to  the  occasion  joyously,  and  "put  him 
out"  in  the  most  literal  fashion;  so  that  no  more  was  seen 
of  that  bully. 

About  ten  o'clock  we  were  getting  tired;  and  probably 
the  reaction  from  the  "42  calibre  whiskey"  was  making  us 
drowsy.  We  hunted  up  Johnny,  still  at  his  faro  game;  but 
he  positively  and  impatiently  declined  to  accompany  us. 

190 


SUNDAY  AT  HANGMAN'S  GULCH 

He  said  he  was  ahead  —  or  behind  —  I  forget  which.  I 
notice  both  conditions  have  the  same  effect  of  keeping  a 
man  from  quitting.  We  therefore  left  him,  and  wandered 
home  through  the  soft  night,  wherein  were  twinkling  stars, 
gentle  breezes,  little  voices,  and  the  silhouettes  of  great 
trees. 


I9f 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  GOLD  WASHERS 

Johnny  did  not  return  at  all  that  night,  but  showed 
up  next  morning  at  the  diggings,  looking  blear-eyed  and 
sleepy.  He  told  us  he  had  slept  with  a  friend,  and  replied 
rather  curtly  that  he  was  a  "little  behind  the  game."  I 
believe  myself  that  he  was  cleaned  out;  but  that  was 
aone  of  our  business.  Every  night  we  divided  the  dust 
into  five  parts.  Don  Caspar  and  Vasquez  got  two 
of  these.  The  remainder  we  again  divided  into  four.  I 
took  charge  of  Talbot's  share.  We  carried  the  dust 
always  with  us;  for  the  camp  was  no  longer  safe  from 
thieves. 

In  order  to  effect  this  division  we  had  to  have  some 
sort  of  scales.  I  went  up  to  the  single  store  to  see  what 
T  could  do.  The  storekeeper  was  a  drawling,  slow,  down- 
east  Yankee,  perpetually  chewing  a  long  sliver  or  straw, 
talking  exclusively  through  his  nose,  keen  for  a  bargain, 
grasping  of  the  last  cent  in  a  trade,  and  yet  singularly 
interesting  and  agreeable.  His  sense  of  dry  humour  had 
a  good  deal  to  do  with  this.  He  had  no  gold  scales  to 
lend  or  to  hire,  but  he  had  some  to  sell.  The  price  v/as 
fifteen  dollars  for  an  ordinary  pair  of  balances  worth 
not  over  a  dollar  and  a  half. 

"And  you'll  find  that  cheap,  if  the  miners  keep  coming 

102 


THE    GOLD    WASHERS 

in  as  fast  as  they  do,"  said  he.  "In  two  weeks  they*D 
be  worth  fifty." 

We  bought  them,  and  obtained  from  them  great  satis- 
faction. Vasquez  used  to  weigh  his  gold  at  night,  and 
again  in  the  morning,  in  hopes,  I  suppose,  that  it  had 
bred  overnight. 

Certainly  the  storekeeper's  statement  as  to  the  influx 
of  miners  was  justified.  They  came  every  day,  in  droves. 
We  began  to  feel  quite  like  old-timers,  and  looked  with 
infinite  scorn  on  these  greenhorns.  They  were  worse 
than  we  had  been;  for  I  have  seen  them  trying  to  work 
in  the  moonlight!  The  diggings  were  actually  getting 
crowded. 

It  was  no  longer  feasible  to  dig  wherever  we  pleased 
to  do  so.  We  held  many  miners'  meetings,  adopting 
regulations.  A  claim  was  to  be  fifteen  feet  square;  work 
must  begin  on  it  within  ten  days;  and  so  forth.  Each  of 
the  five  members  of  our  party  staked  out  two  claims  each, 
on  which  we  worked  in  turn.  All  the  old-timers  respected 
these  regulations,  but  some  of  the  newcomers  seemed 
inclined  to  dispute  them;  so  that  many  meetings  and  much 
wrangling  ensued.  The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  none 
of  us  had  the  slightest  permanent  interest  in  the  place.  We 
intended  merely  to  make  our  piles  and  to  decamp.  Each 
was  for  himself.  Therefore  there  was  no  solidarity.  We 
regulated  only  when  we  were  actually  forced  to  it;  so  that 
with  what  we  called  "private  affairs"  we  declined  to  inter- 
fere. A  man  could  commit  any  crime  in  the  decalogue 
if  so  it  pleased  him.  His  victims  must  protect  themselves. 
Such  things  as  horse  stealing,  grand  larceny,  claim  jumping^ 

i«3 


GOLD 

and  mining  regulations  we  dealt  with ;  but  other  things  were 
not  our  affair.  We  were  too  busy,  and  too  slightly  inter- 
ested in  what  little  public  welfare  a  temporary  mining 
camp  might  have.  Even  when,  in  a  few  cases,  turbulence 
resulted  in  shooting,  we  rarely  punished;  although,  strangely 
enough,  our  innate  Anglo-Saxon  feeling  for  the  formahty  of 
government  always  resulted  in  a  Sunday  "inquest."  We 
deliberated  solemnly.  The  verdict  was  almost  invariably 
"justifiable  self-defence,"  which  was  probably  near  enough, 
for  most  of  these  kilKngs  were  the  result  of  quarrels. 
Murders  for  the  purpose  of  robbery,  later  so  frequent,  were 
as  yet  almost  unknov/n.  Twice,  however,  and  in  both 
instances  the  prisoner  was  one  of  the  gamblers,  we  pro- 
nounced judgment.  One  of  these  men  was  banished,  and 
the  other  hanged.  All  in  all  a  very  fair  semblance  of  order 
was  kept;  but  I  cannot  help  now  but  feel  that  our  early 
shirking  of  responsibihty  —  which  was  typical  of  all 
California  —  made  necessary  later  great  upheavals  of  pop- 
ular justice. 

About  this  time,  also,  the  first  of  the  overland  wagon 
trains  began  to  come  through.  Hangman's  Gulch  was 
not  on  the  direct  route;  but  some  enterprising  individual 
had  found  our  trail  fairly  practicable  for  wagons  and  ten 
miles  shorter  than  the  regular  road.  After  that  many 
followed,  and  soon  we  had  a  well-cleared  road.  They 
showed  plainly  the  hardships  of  a  long  journey,  for  the 
majority  of  them  were  thin,  sick  looking  and  discouraged. 
Few  of  them  stopped  at  the  diggings,  although  most  had 
come  west  in  hopes  of  gold,  but  pushed  on  down  to  the 
pastures  of  the  Sacramento.    They  were  about  worn  out 

194 


THE    GOLD    WASHERS 

dnd  needed  to  recuperate  before  beginning  anything  new. 
Some  were  out  of  provisions  and  practically  starved.  The 
Yankee  storekeeper  sold  food  at  terrible  rates.  I  remember 
that  quinine  —  a  drug  much  in  demand  —  cost  a  dollar  a 
grain!  We  used  to  look  up  from  our  diggings  at  the  pro- 
cession of  these  sad-faced,  lean  men  walking  by  their 
emaciated  cattle,  and  the  women  peering  from  the  wagons, 
and  be  very  thankful  that  we  had  decided  against  the 
much-touted  overland  route. 

One  day,  however,  an  outfit  went  through  of  quite  a 
different  character.  We  were  apprised  of  its  approach 
by  a  hunter  named  Bagsby.  He  loped  down  tJie  trail  to 
the  river  level  very  much  in  a  hurry. 

^'Boys!"  he  shouted,  "quit  work!  Come  see  whales 
coming  down  the  trail !'^  with  which  he  charged  back 
again  up  the  hill 

His  great  excitement  impressed  us,  for  Bagsby,  like 
most  of  the  old-time  Rocky  Mountain  men,  was  not  ordi- 
narily what  one  would  call  an  emotional  individual. 
Therefore  we  dropped  our  tools  and  surged  up  the  hill  as 
fast  as  we  could  go.    I  think  we  suspected  Indians. 

A  train  of  three  wagons  drawn  by  strong  oxen  was 
lurching  slowly  down  the  road.  It  differed  little  from 
others  of  its  kind,  save  that  the  cattle  were  in  better  shape 
and  the  men  walking  alongside,  of  the  tall,  competent  back- 
woodsman type,  seemed  well  and  hearty.  But  perhaps  a 
hundred  yards  ahead  of  the  leading  wagon  came  a  horse  — 
the  only  horse  in  the  outfit  —  and  on  it,  riding  side-saddle, 
was  a  girl.  She  was  a  very  pretty,  red-cheeked  girl,  and 
she  must  have  stopped  within  a  half  mile  or  so  of  the  camp 

195 


GOLD 

in  order  to  get  herself  up  for  this  impressive  entrance. 
Her  dress  was  of  blue  calico  with  a  white  yoke  and  heavy 
flounces  or  panniers;  around  her  neck  was  a  black  velvet 
ribbon;  on  her  head  was  a  big  leghorn  hat  with  red  roses. 
She  rode  through  the  town,  her  head  high,  like  a  princess; 
and  we  all  cheered  her  like  mad.  Not  once  did  she  look 
at  us;  but  I  coidd  see  her  bosom  heaving  with  excitement 
beneath  her  calico,  and  her  nostrils  wide.  She  was  a 
remarkably  pretty  girl;  and  this  was  certainly  the  moment 
of  her  triumph. 

We  fell  into  samty  as  respects  our  hours  of  work  and 
the  way  we  went  at  it.  Often  we  took  as  much  as  an  hour 
and  a  half  off  at  noon;  or  quit  work  early  in  the  day. 
Then  it  was  pleasant  to  sit  with  other  miners  under  the 
trees  or  in  the  shade  by  the  stream  swapping  yams,  doing 
our  mending  or  washing,  and  generally  getting  acquainted. 
As  each  man's  product  was  his  own,  no  one  cared  how 
much  or  how  little  the  others  worked.  Simply  when  he 
quit,  his  share  ceased.  This  does  not  mean  that  we 
shirked  our  work,  however;  we  merely  grew  to  be  a 
little  sensible. 

Some  of  our  discussions  were  amusing,  and  several  of 
them  most  illimiinating.  Thus,  one  day,  John  Semple 
summed  up  a  long  talk  in  which  the  conversation  had 
swung  wildly  among  the  ideas  of  what  each  would  do  when 
he  had  dug  "enough"  gold.  That  had  led  us  to  consider 
what  amo\mt  we  thought  would  be  "enough"  for  each 
of  us.    John  settled  it. 

"Enough,"  said  he,  "is  always  a  little  more  than  a  man 
has." 

xg6 


THE    GOLD    WASHERS 

The  political  situation  was  fruitful  of  much  idle  discussion 
also.  California  had  not  been  formally  placed  on  any 
footing  whatever  by  the  United  States  Congress.  What- 
ever any  community  did  in  the  way  of  legislation  or  regula 
tion  was  extra-legal  and  subject  to  ratification.  I  have 
heard  grave  discussions  as  to  whether  even  murder  could 
be  considered  a  crime,  since  in  this  no-man's  land  there  was 
no  real  law  forbidding  it! 

A  good  many  Chinese  drifted  in  about  this  time,  and 
established  a  camp  of  their  own  a  short  distance  downstream. 
We  took  some  pride  in  them  as  curiosities,  with  their  queer, 
thatchlike  hats,  their  loose  blue  clothing,  their  pigtails 
wound  tight  around  their  heads,  and  their  queer  yellow  faces. 
They  were  an  unobtrusive  people,  scratching  away  pa- 
tiently, though  spasmodically,  on  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
We  sometimes  strolled  down  to  see  them.  They  were  very 
hospitable,  and  pleased  at  the  interest  they  excited. 

We  made  from  fourteen  to  seventeen  ounces  of  gold 
dust  a  day  for  some  weeks,  working  our  two  cradles  some- 
thing like  eight  hours  a  day.  With  gold  at  the  then  current 
rate  of  fourteen  dollars  an  ounce  this  was  a  good  return, 
and  we  were  quite  happy.  Besides,  we  were  always  hoping 
for  a  big  strike.  One  day,  as  I  was  in  the  very  act  of 
turning  my  shovelful  of  dirt  into  the  cradle,  my  eye  caught 
a  dull  gleam.  I  instantly  deflected  the  motion  to  dump  the 
dirt  on  the  stones  alongside,  fished  about,  and  dug  out  a 
nugget  that  weighed  three  and  three-quarter  ounces. 
This  was  by  far  the  largest  single  nugget  found  in  these 
diggings  —  tor  most  of  the  gold  here  came  in  flakes  — 
and  it  attracted  much  attention.    It  belonged  to  me, 

197 


GOLD 

individually,  because  I  had  not  yet  dumped  it  into  the 
cradle. 

About  this  time  we  had  to  come  to  some  sort  of  a  de- 
cision, for  our  provisions  were  about  exhausted.  We  had 
no  desire  to  replenish  our  stock  from  that  of  the  local 
storekeeper.  We  were  doing  pretty  well  in  the  diggings, 
but  we  had  also  fairly  healthy  appetites,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced that  at  the  prices  that  man  charged  we  should  have 
no  more  than  kept  even.  Williams,  the  storekeeper,  was 
levying  double  profits,  one  from  us,  and  one  from  the 
overland  immigrants.  Don  Caspar  proposed  we  send  out 
Vasquez  with  all  the  horses  to  restock  at  Sutter's  Fort. 
We  were  a  trifle  doubtful  as  to  whether  Vasquez  would  ever 
come  back,  but  Don  Caspar  seemed  to  have  confidence  in 
his  man.  Finally,  though  a  Uttle  doubtfully,  we  came  to 
the  plan.  Don  Caspar  sent  out  also  to  McClellan  for  safe- 
keeping his  accumulations  of  gold  dust;  but  we  did  not 
go  quite  that  far.  In  view  of  probable  high  prices  we  en- 
trusted him  with  eighteen  ounces  for  the  purchase  of  goods. 

While  he  was  away  we  came  to  another  decision.  It 
had  been  for  some  weeks  preparing.  The  diggings  were 
becoming  overcrowded.  Almost  every  foot  of  the  bar  was 
occupied,  and  more  men  were  coming  in  every  day.  No 
longer  could  the  newcomer  be  sure  of  his  colour  the  after- 
noon of  his  arrival;  but  was  forced  to  prospect  here  and 
there  up  and  down  the  river  until  he  found  a  patch  of  the 
pay  dirt.  Most  trusted  simply  to  luck,  but  some  had 
systems  on  which  they  worked.  I  have  seen  divining  rods 
used.  The  believers  in  chance  seemed  to  do  as  well  as 
any  one  else. 

198 


THE    GOLD    WASHERS 

But,  also,  our  own  yield  was  decrieasing.  The  last 
week  we  had  gained  only  nineteen  ounces  all  told.  This 
might  be  merely  a  lean  bit  of  misfortune,  or  it  might  mean 
that  we  had  taken  the  best  from  our  ten  claims.  Since 
the  human  mind  is  prone  to  changes,  we  inclined  to  the 
latter  theory.  We  were  getting  restless.  No  miner  ever 
came  to  California  who  did  not  believe  firmly  that  he 
would  have  done  much  better  had  he  come  out  one  voyage 
earlier;  and  no  miner  ever  found  diggings  so  rich  that 
he  had  not  a  sneaking  suspicion  that  he  could  do  even 
better  "a  little  farther  on." 

Our  restlessness  was  further  increased  by  the  fact  that 
we  were  now  seeing  a  good  deal  of  Sam  Bagsby,  the  hunter. 
He  and  Yank  had  found  much  in  common,  and  forgathered 
of  evenings  before  our  campfire. 

Bagsby  was  a  man  of  over  fifty,  tall  and  straight  as  a 
youngster,  with  a  short  white  beard,  a  gray  eye,  and  hard, 
tanned  flesh.  He  was  a  typical  Rocky  Mountain  man, 
wearing  even  in  the  hottest  weather  his  fur  cap  with  the 
tail  hanging  behind,  his  deerskin  moccasins,  and  his 
fringed  buckskin  hunting  shirt.  Mining  possessed  no  in- 
terest for  him  whatever.  He  was  by  profession  a  trapper, 
and  he  had  crossed  the  plains  a  half-dozen  times. 

' '  No  mining  for  me ! "  he  stated  emphatically.  ' '  I  paddled 
around  after  the  stuff  for  a  while,  till  my  hands  swelled 
up  like  p'ison,  and  my  back  creaked  Hke  a  frozen  pine  tree 
in  the  wind.  Then  I  quit,  and  I  stayed  quit.  I'm  a 
hunter;  and  I'm  makin'  a  good  livin',  because  I  ain't  very 
particular  on  how  I  live." 

He  and  Yank  smoked  interminable  pipes,  and  swapped 

199 


GOLD 

yams.  Johnny  and  I  liked  nothing  better  than  to  keep 
quiet  and  listen  to  them.  Bagsby  had  come  out  with 
Captain  Sutter;  and  told  of  that  doughty  soldier's  early 
skirmishes  with  the  Indians.  His  tales  of  the  mountains, 
the  plains,  and  the  game  and  Indians  were  so  much  romance 
to  us;  and  we  both  wished  heartily  that  fate  could  have 
allowed  us  a  chance  at  such  adventures. 

"But  why  don't  you  fellows  branch  out?  "  Bagsby  always 
ended.  "What  do  you  want  to  stick  here  for  like  a  lot  of 
groundhogs?  There's  rivers  back  in  the  hills  a  heap  better 
than  this  one,  and  nobody  thar.  You'd  have  the  place 
plumb  to  yoreselves.  Git  in  where  the  moimtains  is  really 
mountainous." 

Then  he  would  detail  at  length  and  slowly  his  account 
of  the  great  mountains,  deep  cafions,  the  shadows  of 
forests,  ridges  high  up  above  the  world,  and  gorges  far 
within  the  bowels  of  the  earth  through  which  dashed 
white  torrents.  We  gathered  and  pieced  together  ideas  of 
great  ice  and  snow  mountains,  and  sun-warmed  bars  below 
them,  and  bears  and  deer,  and  a  high  clear  air  breathing 
through  a  vast,  beautiful  and  solitary  wilderness.  The 
picture  itself  was  enough  to  set  bounding  the  pulses  of  any 
young  man  with  a  drop  of  adventure  in  his  veins.  But 
also  Bagsby  was  convinced  that  there  we  should  find  richer 
diggings  than  any  yet  discovered. 

"It  stands  to  reason,"  he  argued,  "that  the  farther  up 
you  git,  the  more  gold  there  is.  All  this  loose  stuff  yere 
is  just  what  washed  down  from  the  main  supply.  If 
you  boys  reely  wants  rich  diggings,  then  you  want  to 
push  up  into  the  Porcupine  River  country." 

200 


THE    GOLD    WASHERS 

But  with  this  glowing  and  vivid  impression  we  gathered 
another:  that  of  a  trackless  wilderness,  fearful  abysses 
down  which  to  find  a  way,  labyrinthine  defiles,  great 
forests.  None  of  us  knew  how  to  cope  with  these  things. 
Yank,  the  best  woodsman  of  us  all,  had  had  no  experience 
in  mountains.  None  of  us  knew  anything  of  Indian  war- 
fare. None  of  us  had  the  least  idea  that  we  could  find 
Porcupine  River,  even  if  we  were  to  be  given  accurate 
directions  on  how  to  get  there. 

Nevertheless  the  idea  with  us  had  been  growing.  Some 
of  the  bolder  spirits  among  our  acquaintances  used  to  talk 
it  over  with  us  at  odd  times  —  McNally,  Buck  Barry,  and 
his  partner,  Missouri  Jones.  We  did  not  discuss  it  as  a 
plan,  hardly  as  a  possibility,  merely  as  a  pleasant  theme. 
We  found,  and  advanced  any  amount  of  objections  — 
the  uncertainty  of  finding  any  gold  at  all,  the  expense  of 
suA  a  journey,  the  danger  from  Indians,  the  fact  that  we 
could  find  other  proved  diggings  much  nearer,  and  a  half 
hundred  others.  The  moment  one  of  us  had  advanced 
one  of  these  objections  he  was  at  once  himself  the  most 
eager  to  demolish  it.  Thus  we  gradually  worked  ourselves 
toward  enthusiasm. 

"  If  Sam  Bagsby  would  join  us,  it  might  be  worth  trying, ' ' 
we  came  to  at  last. 

But  Sam  Bagsby  scouted  any  such  idea. 

"I  ain't  that  kind  of  a  tom-fool,"  said  he.  "If  I  want 
to  paddle  my  hands  blue  I'd  do  it  yere.  I  couldn't  make 
more'n  a  living  anyway.  I  tell  you  I  ain't  got  no  use  for 
yore  pra  'rie  dog  grubbing  I " 

Then  McNally  had  an  inspiration. 

201 


GOLD 

"  Will  you  go,  Sam,  if  we  pay  you  for  going?  "  he  asked. 

"Sure,"  replied  the  trapper  at  once.  "I'm  a  labouring 
man,  I'll  go  anywhar  I'm  paid  to  go." 

It  came  out  that  Bagsby's  ideas  of  proper  compensation 
were  his  supplies,  fifteen  dollars  a  week  in  gold,  and  a 
drink  of  whiskey  twice  a  day!  In  all  this  gold  country 
he  was  the  only  man  I  met  who  genuinely  despised  money. 
I  really  think  we  were  hurried  to  our  decision  by  this 
unexpected  reasonableness  on  his  part.  At  any  rate  we 
decided  definitely  to  go. 


908 


CHAPTER  XXI 
WE  LEAVE  THE  DIGGINGS 

There  were  nine  of  us  —  Bagsby,  Yank,  Johnny  Fairfax, 
myself,  Don  Gaspar,  Vasquez,  McNally,  Buck  Barry,  and 
Missouri  Jones.  We  possessed,  in  all,  just  nine  horses. 
Yank,  Vasquez,  Bagsby,  and  Jones  drove  eight  of  them  out 
again  to  Sutter's  Fort  for  provisions  —  Don  Gaspar's 
beautiful  chestnut  refused  to  be* a  pack-horse  on  any  terms. 
We  took  the  opportunity  of  sending  our  accumulations  of 
gold  dust  to  Talbot  for  safekeeping.  I  do  not  know  just 
how  much  my  companions  forwarded.  Of  course  I  could 
compute  their  shares;  but  had  no  means  of  telling  just  what 
deductions  to  allow  for  the  deHghts  of  Hangman's  Gulch. 
For  Talbot  I  laid  aside  as  his  share  of  our  entire  product 
,of  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  ounces  a  total  of  one  hundred 
and  ten  ounces.  This  included  the  half  of  my  own  share, 
as  agreed.  Roughly  speaking,  the  value  of  a  partnership 
third,  after  Don  Gaspar's  portion  had  been  deducted,  was  a 
trifle  over  a  thousand  dollars  for  six  weeks'  work.  There 
seemed  to  us  also  an  excellent  chance  to  realize  something 
on  the  two  cradles.  I  went  about  among  the  miners,  and 
without  trouble  got  bids  for  a  hundred  dollars  each .  Johnny 
was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  this.  He  insisted  that 
late  in  the  afternoon  we  drag  the  formidable  engines  up  the 
trail  to  the  town,  where  he  deposited  them  in  the  middle 

203 


GOLD 

of  the  street.  There  he  proceeded  to  auction  them; 
attracting  the  crowd  by  the  simple  expedient  of  firing  his 
Colt's  revolver.  The  bidding  was  sluggish  at  first,  but 
Johnny's  facetious  oratory  warmed  it.  The  first  cradle 
was  knocked  down  at  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars. 
The  second  was  about  to  go  for  approximately  the  same 
amount,  when  Johnny  held  up  his  hand. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  he  impressively,  "I  do  not  think 
you  quite  realize  that  for  what  you  are  bidding.  This  is  no 
ordinary  cradle,  Uke  the  other.  This  is  the  very  identical 
warranted  genuine  cradle  into  which  that  enormous  limip 
of  gold,  weighing  three  and  three-quarter  ounces  —  the 
finest  nugget  ever  unearthed  at  Hangman's  Gulch  —  v/as 
about  to  be  shovelled  by  that  largest  and  most  enormous 
lump  of  a  lad,  the  gentleman  at  my  right,  when  seized  upon 
and  claimed  as  private  property  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  these  diggings.  This  is  the  very  identical  historical 
cradle!    Now,  how  much  am  I  bid ! " 

The  crowd  laughed  —  but  it  bid !  We  got  two  hundred 
and  forty  dollars  for  it. 

Our  purveyors  returned  the  second  day  after.  They 
reported  prices  very  high  at  Sutter's  Fort,  and  a  great 
congestion  of  people  there;  both  of  those  ascending  the 
river  from  San  Francisco,  and  of  overlanders.  Prices 
had  consequently  gone  up.  Indeed,  so  high  were  all 
provisions  that  our  hard-headed  partners  had  contented 
themselves  with  buying  only  some  coffee,  dried  beef,  and 
flour.  They  had  purchased  also  a  further  supply  of  powder 
and  balis,  and  a  rifle  apiece  for  such  of  us  as  already  had 
none.    The  weapons  were  very  expensive;  and  we  found 

304 


WE    LEAVE    THE    DIGGINGS 

that  our  savings  had  been  much  eaten  into.  We  collected 
our  effects,  packed  them,  as  many  of  them  as  we  wefe 
able,  and  sunk  to  sleep  in  a  pleasing  tingle  of  excitement. 

Bagsby  got  us  up  long  before  daylight.  The  air  was 
chilly,  in  contrast  to  the  terrific  heats  to  be  expected 
later  in  the  day,  so  we  hastened  to  finish  our  packing,  and 
at  dawn  were  off. 

Bagsby  struck  immediately  away  from  the  main  road 
toward  the  north.  The  coimtry  we  traversed  was  one  of 
wide,  woody  bottoms  separated  by  rocky  hills.  The  trapper 
proved  to  be  an  excellent  guide.  Seemingly  by  a  sort  of 
instinct  he  was  able  to  judge  where  a  way  would  prove 
practicable  for  our  animals  down  into  or  up  out  of  the 
nimaerous  canons  and  ravines.  It  was  borne  in  on  me  very 
forcibly  how  much  hampered  we  should  have  been  by  our 
inexperience  had  we  tried  it  alone.  The  country  mounted 
gradually.  From  some  of  the  higher  points  we  could  see 
out  over  the  lowlands  lost  in  a  brown  heat-haze .  D  eer  were 
numerous,  and  a  species  of  hare,  and  the  helmeted  quail. 
The  sun  was  very  hot;  but  the  air  was  curiously  streaked 
with  coolness  and  with  a  fierce  dry  heat  as  though  from  an 
opened  furnace  door.  All  the  grass  was  brown  and  crisp. 
Darker  and  more  abrupt  mountains  showed  themselves 
in  the  distance,  with  an  occasional  peak  of  white  and 
glittering  snow. 

Until  about  three  o'clock  we  journeyed  through  a  com- 
plete solitude.  Then  we  came  upon  some  men  digging  in  a 
dry  wash.  They  had  piled  up  a  great  heap  of  dirt  from  a 
hole.  We  stopped  and  talked  to  them;  and  discovered  that 
they  were  working  what  they  called  "dry  diggings.  *'    The 

tos 


GOLD 

pay  dirt  they  excavated  from  wherever  they  found  it 
piled  it  in  a  convenient  place,  and  there  left  it  until  the 
rains  should  permit  its  washing.  They  claimed  their  dirt 
would  prove  to  be  very  rich;  but  I  thought  myself  that  they 
were  labouring  in  great  faith.  Also  we  learned  what  Bagsby 
had  known  right  along,  but  which  he  had  not  bothered  to 
tell  us;  that  we  were  now  about  to  cross  the  main  Overland 
Trail. 

We  stopped  that  night  near  the  road,  and  at  a  wayside 
inn  or  road  house  of  logs  kept  by  a  most  interesting  man. 
He  served  us  an  excellent  meal,  including  real  eggs,  and 
afterward  joined  us  around  the  fire.  He  was  an  Italian, 
short,  strongly  built,  with  close  curly  hair,  a  roUicking, 
good-natured  face,  and  with  tiny  gold  rings  in  his  ears. 
Johnny  and  he  did  most  of  the  talking,  while  we  Hstened. 
No  part  of  the  civilized  world  seemed  to  have  been  un- 
visited  by  this  pair.  Johnny  mentioned  Paris,  our  host 
added  an  intimate  detail  as  to  some  little  street;  London 
appeared  to  be  known  to  them  from  one  end  to  the  other; 
Berlin,  Edinburg,  St.  Petersburg  even;  and  a  host  of  other 
little  fellows  whose  names  I  never  knew  before  and  cannot 
remember  now.  They  swapped  reminiscences  of  the 
streets;  the  restaurants,  and  the  waiters  and  proprietors 
thereof;  the  alleys  and  byways,  the  parks  and  Httle  places. 
I  knew,  in  a  general  way,  that  Johnny  had  done  the  grand 
tour;  but  the  Italian  with  his  gold  earrings  and  his  strong, 
brown,  good-hiunoured  peasant  face  puzzled  me  completely. 
How  came  he  to  be  so  travelled?  so  intimately  travelled? 
He  was  no  sailor;  that  I  soon  determined. 

The  two  of  them  became  thoroughly  interested;  but 

206 


WE    LEAVE    THE    DIGGINGS 

after  a  time  the  native  courtesy  of  the  Italian  asserted 
icself.  He  evidently  thought  we  might  feel  left  out  of  it; 
though  I  think  the  others  were,  like  myseif ,  quite  fascinated. 

' '  You  lika  music? ' '  he  smiled  at  us  engagingly.  ' '  I  getta 
my  Itahan  fiddle?      No?" 

He  arose  at  our  eager  assent,  pushed  aside  a  blanket 
that  screened  off  one  end  of  the  log  cabin,  and  produced 
his  ^'Itahan  fiddle"  —  a  hand-organ! 

At  once  the  solution  of  the  wide  wandering  among  the 
many  cities,  the  intimate  knowledge  of  streets  and  of 
public  places  burst  upon  my  comprehension.  I  could  see 
our  host  looking  upward,  his  strong  white  teeth  flashing 
in  an  ingratiating  fascinating  smile,  his  right  arm  revolving 
with  the  crank  of  his  organ,  his  little  brown  monkey  with 
the  red  coat  and  the  anxious  face  clambering 

Next  morning  we  crossed  the  Overland  Trail,  and  plunged 
into  a  new  country  of  pines,  of  high  hills,  of  deep  canons, 
and  bold^  rocky  ridges.  The  open  spaces  we  had  left  behind, 
and  the  great  heats.  Water  flowed  in  almost  every  ravine, 
and  along  its  courses  grew  green  grass  and  wild  flowers. 
Every  little  while  we  would  come  upon  openings  in  the 
forest,  clear  meadows  spangled  with  blossoms;  or  occas- 
ionally we  would  skirt  high  bald  knobs  of  rock  around 
which  was  stiff  brush.  For  some  miles  we  could  journey 
at  ease  through  clear  woods,  then  would  encounter  a  gash 
in  the  earth  into  which,  at  some  expense  of  trial,  we  would 
have  to  find  a  way.  At  first  every  stream  bed  was  dotted 
with  the  red  shirts  of  miners.  They  became  fewer  as  we 
advanced,  until  finally  the  last  pair  had  been  left  behind. 
We  camped  that  night  at  the  edge  of  one  of  the  meadows, 

207 


GOLD 

beneath  pine  trees.  The  air  turned  very  chilly.  We  built 
ourselves  a  fire  of  dried  branches  from  the  trees.  In  the 
meadow  the  horses  cropped  eagerly  at  the  lush  green  feed, 
their  bells  tinkling  pleasantly. 

Nothing  more  remote  could  be  imagined.  Nevertheless 
Bagsby,  Don  Caspar,  and  Vasquez  were  not  satisfied. 
They  consulted  at  length  and  apart;  then  Bagsby  announced 
that  sentries  must  stand  watches.  We  grumbled  at  this, 
but  Bagsby  was  firm,  and  as  we  had  agreed  to  obey  his 
commands  we  did  so  now.  Don  Caspar  explained  to  us 
later  that  the  Mexican  thieves  would  trail  a  party  like  ours 
for  days,  awaiting  the  chance  to  make  off  with  the  horses. 
Bagsby  also  chose  the  sentinels,  selecting  himself,  Yank, 
Vasquez,  and  Missouri  Jones.  Once  wrapped  in  my  warm 
blanket  I  found  myself  selfishly  glad  that  my  experience 
had  not  been  considered  worth  trusting. 

The  third  day  we  occupied  in  surmounting  a  tremendous 
ridge  of  mountains.  We  climbed  for  hours,  working  our 
way  up  by  zigzag  and  long  slants  through  the  pines,  the 
rocky  outcrops,  the  ledges,  and  the  stiff  brush  that  made 
up  the  slope.  It  was  hard  work;  and  it  seemed  to  have  no 
end.  We  arrived  at  last  on  a  knife-edge  summit.  Here 
the  trees  were  fewer.  We  looked  abroad  over  the  coimtry 
we  had  traversed,  and  that  which  lay  before  us  —  a  suc- 
<:ession  of  dark,  dim,  undulating  ridges  with  cafions  and 
valleys  between,  slanting  from  the  great  ranges  at  the  right 
to  brown  rolling  hills  and  the  heat-covered,  half -guessed 
plains.  Immediately  below  us,  very  far  down,  was  a  toy- 
like valley,  with  low  hills,  and  flat  places,  and  groves  of  elfin 
trees,  and  a  twisting  bottle  green  river  with  white  rapids. 

20S 


WE    LEAVE    THE    DIGGINGS 

"Thar's  the  Porcupine,"  Bagsby  told  us  briefly. 

We  took  a  look,  then  plunged  into  the  tangles  ftnd 
difficulties  of  the  descent.  Just  at  sundown,  our  knees 
bending  under  us,  we  came  off  that  terrific  slant  to  a 
grateful  wide  flat,  grown  with  scattered  oaks,  and  covered 
with  fine  brown  grass.  A  little  spring  stream  wandered 
through  the  meadow  toward  the  river  on  the  other  side  of 
the  valley. 

We  camped  right  there,  dumping  the  packs  from  the 
horses  almost  anyhow.  After  a  hearty  meal,  we  rolled 
ourselves  immediately  into  our  blankets  and  fell  into 
a  grateful  sleep  to  the  tune  of  the  distant  river  munniuin|c 
over  the  shingle. 


«9 


CHAPTER  XXII 
THE  STRIKE 

We  awoke  next  njorning  to  a  bright  day.  The  hehneted 
quail  were  calling;  the  bees  were  just  beginning  a  sun- 
warmed  hum  among  the  bushes;  a  languorous  warmth 
hung  in  the  air,  and  a  Sunday  stillness.  It  was  as  though 
we  awakened  to  a  new  world,  untrodden  by  men;  which  was, 
indeed,  a  good  deal  the  case. 

While  we  ate  breakfast  we  discussed  our  plans.  The 
first  necessity,  of  course,  was  to  find  out  about  gold.  To 
that  end  we  agreed  to  separate  for  the  day,  prospecting 
far  and  wide.  Bagsby  kept  camp,  and  an  eye  on  the  horses. 
He  displayed  Kttle  interest  in  the  gold  proposition;  but 
insisted  strongly  that  we  should  carry  both  our  rifles 
and  revolvers. 

It  would  be  difiicult  to  describe  the  thrill  of  anticipa- 
tion with  which  I  set  off  up  the  valley.  The  place  was  so 
new,  so  untouched,  so  absolutely  unknown.  The  high 
ridges  on  either  side  frowned  down  austerely  on  the  little 
meadows  that  smiled  back  quite  unabashed.  As  I  crossed 
the  brown  dry  meadow  toward  the  river  a  covey  of  quail 
whirred  away  before  me,  lit,  and  paced  off  at  a  great  rate. 
Two  big  grouse  roared  from  a  thicket. 

The  river  was  a  beautiful,  clear  stream,  with  green 
wavery  water  whirling  darkly  in  pools,  or  breaking  white 

aio 


THE    STRIKE 

among  the  stones.  As  my  shadow  fell  upon  it,  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  big  trout  scurrying  into  the  darkness  beneath 
a  boulder.  Picking  my  way  among  the  loose  stones  I 
selected  a  likely  place  on  the  bar  and  struck  home  my  pick. 

I  have  since  repeated  the  sensations  of  that  day  —  on 
a  smaller  scale  of  course — in  whipping  untried  trout  waters; 
same  early  excitement  and  enthusiasm,  same  eager  sus- 
tained persistence  in  face  of  failure,  same  incredxilous 
slowing  down,  same  ultimate  discouragement,  disbelief 
and  disgust.  All  that  day  I  shovelled  and  panned.  The 
early  morning  freshness  soon  dissipated.  Between  the 
high  mountain  v/alls  the  heat  reflected.  All  the  quail 
stood  beneath  the  shade  of  bushes,  their  beaks  haK  open 
as  though  panting.  The  birds  that  had  sung  so  sweetly  in 
the  early  morning  had  somewhere  sought  repose.  I  could 
occasionallv  catch  glimpses  of  our  horses  dozing  under 
trees.  Even  the  chirping  insects  were  still.  As  far  as  I 
^could  make  out  I  was  the  only  Hving  thing  foolish  enough 
to  stay  abroad  and  awake  in  that  suffocating  heat.  The 
sweat  dripped  from  me  in  streams;  my  eyes  ached  from  the 
glare  of  the  sun  on  the  rocks  and  the  bleached  grasses. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  afternoon  I  confessed  sneakingly 
to  myself  that  I  was  just  a  little  glad  I  had  found  no  gold 
and  that  I  hoped  the  others  had  been  equally  unfortunate. 
The  thought  of  working  day  after  day  in  that  furnace  heat 
was  too  much  for  me. 

My  hopes  were  fulfilled.  All  came  in  that  night  tired, 
hot,  dirty,  and  discouraged.  Not  one  of  the  eight  of  us 
had  raised  a  sign  of  colour. 

''Well,"  said  Bagsby  philosophicaU*':  "that's  all  right. 

2TI 


GOLD 

We've  just  got  to  go  higher.  To-morrow  well  move  up- 
stream." 

Accordingly  next  day  we  turned  at  right  angles  to  our 
former  route  and  followed  up  the  bed  of  the  cafion  ten 
or  twelve  miles  toward  the  distant  main  ranges.  It  was, 
in  general,  rather  hard  scrabbling  for  the  horses,  though 
we  footmen  did  well  enough.  Sometimes  we  crossed  wide 
flats,  resembling  the  one  we  had  just  left;  again,  where 
the  cafion  narrowed,  we  had  actually  to  stumble  in  the 
rocks  of  the  stream  bed.  Twice  we  forded,  and  twice  we 
had  to  make  great  climbs  up  and  down  again  in  order  to 
get  by  points  that  came  boldly  down  to  the  river.  It  was 
curious  to  see  the  nature  of  the  country  change.  The 
pines  on  the  moimtains  to  our  right  and  left  seemed  to 
push  down  nearer  to  our  level;  the  grass  turned  green;  the 
stream  narrowed  and  became  swifter;  the  sky  seemed  to 
turn  bluer;  £ind  from  the  ranges  breathed  a  cool,  refreshing 
wind. 

About  four  o'clock  we  camped.  The  flat  was  green; 
little  clumps  of  cedar  pushed  out  across  it;  the  oaks  had 
given  place  to  cottonwoods;  we  had  now  to  make  acquaint- 
ance with  new  birds.  But  what  particularly  interested 
us  was  the  fact  that  at  this  point  the  high  canon  walls 
at  either  side  broke  into  rounder  hills  that  opened  out 
widely,  and  that  from  among  them  descended  many 
ravines,  barrancas,  and  dry  washes. 

The  following  morning  we  went  prospecting  again. 
My  instructions  were  for  the  dry  washes  in  the  sides  of 
the  hills.  Accordingly  I  scrambled  up  among  the  boulders 
in  the  nearest  V-shaped  ravine.    I  had  hardly  to  look  at  all. 


THE    STRIKE 

Behind  a  large  boulder  lay  a  little  cuplike  depression  of 
stones  in  which  evidently  had  stood  a  recently  evaporated 
pool  of  water,  and  which,  in  consequence,  was  free  from 
the  usual  dusty  rubble.  In  the  interstices  between  the 
stones  my  eye  caught  a  dull  glitter.  I  fell  on  my  knees,  dug 
about  with  the  point  of  my  bowie  knife,  and  so  unearthed 
small  nuggets  aggregating  probably  a  half  ounce  in  weight. 

Although  mightily  tempted  to  stay  for  more,  I  minded 
our  agreement  to  report  promptly  the  first  discovery, 
and  started  back  to  camp.  Why  I  did  not  come  a  header 
in  that  fearful,  boulder-strewn  wash  I  cannot  tell  you. 
Certainly  I  took  no  care  of  my  going,  but  leaped  recklessly 
from  rock  to  rock  like  a  goat.  When  I  reached  the  flat, 
I  ran,  whooping  like  an  Indian.  From  the  river  I  could 
see  Johnny  and  Buck  Barry  running,  too,  and  had  sense 
enough  to  laugh  as  it  occurred  to  me  they  must  think  us 
attacked  by  Indians.  Far  down  the  stream  I  could  just 
make  out  figures  I  knew  to  be  Yank  and  McNally.  They 
too  seemed  to  be  coming  to  camp,  though  I  could  not 
imagine  that  my  shouts  had  carried  so  far. 

I  burst  in  on  Bagsby,  who  was  smoking  his  pipe  and 
leisurely  washing  the  breakfast  dishes,  with  a  whoop, 
lifted  him  bodily  by  the  shoulders,  whirled  him  around  in  a 
clumsy  dance.  He  aimed  a  swipe  at  me  with  the  wet  dish 
cloth  that  caught  me  across  the  eyes. 

"You  tarnation  young  grizzly  b'ar!"  said  he. 

I  wiped  the  water  from  my  eyes.  Johnny  and  Buck 
Barry  ran  up.  Somehow  they  did  not  seem  to  be  antici- 
pating an  Indian  attack  after  all.  Johnny  ran  up  to  thump 
me  on  the  back. 

ax5 


GOLD 

"Isn't  it  greail"  he  cried.  "Right  off  the  reel!  First 
pop!  Bagsby,  old  sport,  you're  a  wonder!"  He  started 
for  Bagsby,  who  promptly  rushed  for  his  long  rifle. 

"I'm  going  to  kill  the  first  lunatic  I  see,"  he  announced. 

Johnny  laughed  excitedly,  and  turned  back  to  thump  me 
again. 

"How  did  you  guess  what  it  was?  "  I  asked. 

"Didn't.    Just  blundered  on  it." 

"What!"  I  yelled.     "Have  you  struck  it,  too?" 

"First  shovel,"  said  Johnny.  "But  you  don't 
oiean " 

I  thrust  my  three  nuggets  under  his  eyes. 

"Say,"  broke  in  Buck  Barry,  "if  you  fellows  know  where 
the  whiskey  is,  hide  it,  and  hide  it  quick.  If  I  see  it,  I'U 
get  drunk!" 

Yank  and  McNally  at  this  moment  strolled  from  around 
the  bushes.    We  all  burst  out  on  them. 

"See  your  fool  nuggets  and  ^colour,'  and  raise  you 
this,"  drawled  Yank,  and  he  hauled  from  his  pocket  the 
very  largest  chunk  of  virgin  gold  it  has  ever  been  my 
good  fortune  to  behold.  It  wa&  irregular  in  shape,  pitted 
and  scored,  shaped  a  good  deal  like  an  egg,  and  nearly  its 
size.  One  pound  and  a  tiny  fraction  that  great  nugget 
balanced  —  when  we  got  aroimd  to  weighing  it.  And 
Ihen  to  crown  the  glorious  day  which  the  gods  were  brim- 
ming for  us,  came  Don  Caspar  and  Vasquez,  trailed  by 
that  long  and  saturnine  individual,  Missouri  Jones.  The 
Spaniards  were  outwardly  cahn,  but  their  eyes  snapped. 
As  soon  as  they  saw  us  they  waved  their  hats. 

"Ah!  also  you  have  found  tbe  gold!"  cried  Don  Caspar, 

214 


THE    STRIKE 

sensing  immediately  the  significance  of  our  presence- 
"We,  too.  It  is  of  good  colour;  there  above  by  the  bend." 
His  eye  widened  as  he  saw  what  Yank  held.  *^Madre  de 
diosl^'  he  murmured. 

McNally,  who  had  said  and  done  nothing,  suddenly 
uttered  a  resounding  whoop  and  stood  on  his  hands. 
Missouri  Jones,  taking  aim,  spat  carefully  into  the  centre 
of  the  fire,  missing  the  dishpan  by  a  calculated  and  accu- 
rate inch. 

"The  country  is  just  lousy  with  gold,"  he  pronounced. 

Then  we  blew  up.  We  hugged  each  other,  we  pounded 
each  other's  backs,  we  emulated  McNally' s  wild  Irish 
v/hoops,  finally  we  joined  hands  and  danced  around  and 
around  the  remains  of  the  fire,  kicking  up  our  heels  ab- 
surdly. Bagsby,  a  leathery  grin  on  his  face,  stood  off  one 
side.  He  still  held  his  long-barrelled  rifle,  which  he  pre- 
sented at  whoever  neared  him. 

"I  tell  you,  look  out!"  he  kept  saying  over  and  over. 
"I'm  shootin'  lunatics  to-day;  and  apparently  there's 
plenty  game  to  choose  from." 


3IS 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
THE  CAMP  ON  THE  PORCUPINE 

We  should  aU  have  liked  to  start  right  in  digging,  but 
Bagsby  strenuously  opposed  this. 

"You-all  have  a  rich  diggings  yere/*  said  he;  "and 
you  want  to  stay  a  while  and  git  the  most  there  is  out 
of  them.  And  if  you're  going  to  do  that,  you've  got  to 
get  a  good  ready.  You've  got  make  a  decent  camp,  and  a 
stockade  for  the  bosses  at  night;  and  if  you  want  yore 
grub  to  last  you  more  than  a  month  there's  got  to  be 
some  reg'lar  hunting  and  fishing  done." 

"That'll  take  a  week!"  cried  Johnny  impatiently. 

"Or  more,"  agreed  Bagsby  with  entire  complacence. 
"You  can  bull  at  it  and  go  to  t'aring  up  the  scenery  if  you 
want  to;  but  you  won't  last  long." 

Unpalatable  as  this  advice  seemed,  with  all  the  loose 
gold  lying  about,  we  ended  by  adopting  it.  Indeed, 
we  added  sHghtly  to  our  self-imposed  tasks  by  determining 
on  tiie  construction  of  cradles.  Yank  had  figured  out  a 
scheme  having  to  do  with  hollowed  logs  and  canvas  with 
cleats  that  would  obviate  the  need  of  lumber.  We  deputed 
Johnny  to  help  him.  Bagsby  and  Vasquez  were  to  hunt 
and  fish  for  the  general  benefit,  while  the  rest  of  us  put  up 
a  stockade,  or  corral,  and  erected  a  cabin. 

I  must  confess  the  labour  was  pleasant.    We  had  plenty 

216 


THE    CAMP    ON    THE    PORCUPINE 

of  axes,  and  four  of  us  were  skilled  in  their  use.  Person- 
ally I  like  nothing  better  than  the  exercise  of  swinging 
a  keen  blade,  the  feeling  of  skillful  accuracy  and  of  nicely 
adjusted  effort.  We  felled  dozens,  hundreds,  of  tall  young 
pines  eight  inches  to  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  planted  them 
upright  in  a  trench  to  form  a  stockade.  Then  we  ran  up 
a  rough  sort  of  cabin  of  two  rooms.  Yank,  somewhat 
hampered  by  Johnny,  finished  his  cradles,  and  turned  in  to 
help  us.  Bagsby  and  Vasquez  brought  in  several  deer  and 
an  elk,  and  trapped  many  quail  and  hares.  We  fared 
royally,  worked  healthfully  in  the  shade  of  our  trees,  and 
enjoyed  huge  smokes  and  powwows  aroimd  our  fire  of  an 
evening.  Every  night  we  drove  the  horses  within  the 
enclosure;  and  slept  heavily. 

Always  in  the  background  of  consciousness  lay  the 
gold,  the  incredibly  abundant  gold.  It  coloured  our  dreams, 
it  gilded  our  labour.  As  we  drew  to  the  end  of  our  con- 
struction work,  I  really  believe  we  experienced  a  slight, 
a  very  slight,  feeling  of  regret  that  this  fine  flavour  of 
anticipation  was  so  nearly  at  an  end.  However,  I  noticed 
that  though  we  completed  the  house  at  three  of  the  after- 
noon, we  none  of  us  showed  any  disposition  to  wait  for  the 
morrow.  We  promptly  lugged  one  of  Yank's  log  cradles 
to  the  border  of  the  stream  and  put  in  two  hours  washing. 

The  results  were  most  encouraging,  for  we  gained  in 
that  short  time  nearly  two  ounces  of  flake  gold. 

That  evening  we  reviewed  our  situation  carefidly.  The 
older  heads  of  the  party  —  Yank,  Bagsby,  Don  Caspar, 
and  Missouri  Jones  —  overruled  our  yoimg  desire  to 
jump  into  things  headlong. 

917 


GOLD 

''If  this  camp  is  going  to  get  on  right/'  said  'iank, 
we  got  to  make  some  provision  for  working  right.  Some- 
body's got  to  be  in  camp  all  the  time,  that's  sure  —  to 
cook  some  decent  meals,  do  the  odd  chores,  and  keep  an 
eye  on  the  stock."  Bagsby  nodded  emphatically  at  this. 
''And  somebody's  got  to  rustle  game  and  fish.  Yere's  nine 
ausky  men  to  eat.  If  we  leave  one  man  in  camp  and  two  to 
hunt,  we  have  six  left  for  gold  washing.  That's  three 
to  a  cradle,  and  that's  just  right." 

We  came  to  that,  too;  and  so  settled  into  our  routine. 
Bagsby  was  the  only  permanent  office-holder  among  us- 
He  was  unanimously  elected  the  official  hunter.  The 
rest  of  us  agreed  to  take  turn  about  at  the  other  jobs. 
It  was  further  agreed  to  increase  our  chancers  by  utilizing 
the  cradles  at  two  totally  difterent  kinds  of  diggings.  One 
we  located  on  the  bar  to  wash  out  the  shingle.  The  other 
we  carried  to  a  point  opposite  the  dry  ravine  in  which  I 
had  found  my  three  Httle  nuggets. 

Don  Caspar  had  worked  like  a  nailer  at  the  construction 
although  he  was  utterly  unskilled.  Nov/  at  the  end  of  the 
week  he  was  worn  out,  although  he  stoutly  maintained  he 
was  as  good  as  ever.  This  high-bred,  energetic  gentleman 
we  had  all  come  to  admire,  both  for  his  unfailing  courtesy 
and  his  uncomplaining  acceptance  of  hardships  to  which 
evidently  he  had  never  been  accustomed.  Exactly  why  he 
underwent  the  terrible  exertions  incidental  to  gold  finding 
I  have  never  quite  fathomed.  I  do  not  beHeve  he  needed 
money;  and  I  never  saw  one  of  his  race  fond  of  hard  physical 
work.  Indeed,  he  was  the  only  member  of  his  class  I  ever 
met  who  would  work.    The  truth  of  the  matter  probably 

218 


THE    CAMP    ON    THE    PORCUPINE 

lies  somewhere  between  an  outcropping  of  the  old  adven- 
turous conquistadore  spirit  and  the  fascination  of  the 
golden  metal  itself,  quite  apart  from  its  doUars-and- 
cents  value.  Unanimously  we  voted  in  Don  Caspar  as 
camp  keeper  for  the  first  week.  We  wanted  to  give  him  a 
rest;  but  I  do  not  think  we  pleased  him.  However,  he 
bowed  to  our  decision  with  his  usual  gracious  courtesy. 
As  hunting  companion  for  Bagsby  we  appointed  Missouri 
Jones,  with  the  understanding  that  every  two  days  that 
office  was  to  have  a  new  incumbent.  Johnny,  McNally, 
and  I  took  charge  of  the  dry  wash,  and  the  rest  of  the 
party  tackled  the  bar.  Of  course  we  all  —  except  Bagsby 
—  were  to  share  equally. 

Unless  the  wash  should  prove  very  productive  we 
would  have  the  worst  end  of  it,  for  we  had  to  carry  the 
pay  dirt  down  to  the  stream's  edge.  For  the  purpose 
wt  used  the  pack-sacks  —  or  alforjas,  as  the  Spaniards  call 
them.  Each  held  about  sixty  or  seventy  pounds  of  dirt. 
We  found  this  a  sweaty  and  stumbly  task  —  to  stagger  over 
the  water-smoothed  boulders  of  the  wash,  out  across  the 
shingle  to  the  edge  of  the  stream.  There  one  of  us  dumped 
his  burden  into  the  cradle;  and  we  proceeded  to  wash  it  out. 
We  got  the  "colour"  at  once  in  the  residuary  black  sand. 

All  morning  we  laboured  manfully,  and  discovered  a 
brand  new  set  of  muscles.  By  comparison  our  former 
toil  of  mere  digging  and  washing  seemed  light  and  pleas- 
urable exercise. 

"If  this  stuff  don't  run  pretty  high,"  grunted  McNally, 
wiping  the  sweat  from  his  eyes,  "it's  me  voting  for  the  bar. 
We  can't  stand  all  day  of  this." 

219 


GOLD 

He  heaved  the  contents  of  his  pack-sack  into  the  cradle ' 
and  shook  it  disgustedly.  Suddenly  his  jaw  dropped 
and  his  eye  widened  with  so  poignant  an  expression  that  we 
both  begged  him,  in  alarm,  to  tell  us  what  was  the  matter. 

"Now,  will  you  look  at  that!"  he  cried. 

We  followed  the  direction  of  his  gaze,  but  saw  only 
the  meadow,  and  the  horses  feeding  in  it,  and  the  thin 
smoke  beyond,  where  Don  Caspar  was  bending  his  proud 
CastiUian  spirit  to  attend  to  fried  steak  and  flapjacks. 

"Look  at  those  horses!"  cried  McNally  with  growing 
indignation. 

"What's  the  matter  with  them?"  cried  Johnny  and  I 
in  a  breath. 

"Matter  with  them!  Nothing!"  cried  McNally  with 
comical  disgust.  "The  matter's  with  us."  He  rapped  his 
knuckles  on  his  head.  "Solid,  all  the  way  through!"  said 
he.  "Why,  save  from  nat'ral  born  himian  imbehcity, 
should  horses  be  living  Hke  gentleman  while  gentlemen  are 
working  like  horses!" 

We  took  the  hint.  That  afternoon  we  saddled  the 
pack-horses  and  led  them,  laden  with  the  dirt,  back  and 
forth  between  the  ravine  and  the  cradle. 

All  of  us  worked  until  rather  later  in  the  day  than 
usual.  .  .  .  The  himters,  too,  did  not  return  until 
dark.  We  weighed  the  results  of  our  labour  with  eager 
interest.  From  our  cradle  we  had  taken  eleven  ounces, 
while  those  working  the  bar  had  gained  just  over  nine. 
That  was  a  good  day's  work,  and  we  were  much  elated. 

"And  most  any  time,"  exulted  Johnny,  "we'll  run  into  a 
big  pocket  with  thousands." 

220 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE    INDIANS 

Although  we  did  not  immediately  run  into  the  expected 
thousands,  nor  did  the  promise  of  that  first  glorious  day 
of  discovery  quite  fulfil  itself,  nevertheless  our  new 
diggings  turned  out  to  be  very  rich.  We  fell  into  routine; 
and  the  days  and  weeks  slipped  by.  Bagsby  and  one  com- 
panion went  out  every  day  to  hunt  or  to  fish.  We  took 
turns  at  a  vacation  in  camp.  Every  night  we  **blew"  our 
day's  collection  of  sand,  weighed  the  gold,  and  pack^4  ^t 
away.    Our  accimiulations  were  getting  to  be  very  valuable. 

For  a  month  we  lived  this  idyllic  life  quite  unmolested, 
and  had  gradually  come  to  feel  that  we  were  so  far  out  of 
the  world  that  nothing  would  ever  disturb  us.  The  days 
seemed  all  alike,  clear,  sparkling,  cloudless.  It  was  my 
first  experience  with  the  California  climate,  and  these 
things  were  a  perpetual  wonder  to  my  New  England  mind. 

Then  one  day  when  I  was  camp  keeper,  at  the  upper 
end  of  our  long  meadow,  a  nxunber  of  men  emerged  from  the 
willows  and  hesitated  uncertainly.  They  were  too  far 
away  to  be  plainly  distinguishable,  but  I  believed  in  taking 
no  chances,  so  I  fired  my  revolver  to  attract  the  attention  of 
my  companions.  They  looked  up  from  their  labour,  saw 
the  men,  and  promptly  came  into  camp. 

The  group  still  hesitated  at  the  edge  of  the  thicket. 

3i3X 


GOLD 

Then  one  of  them  waved  something  white.  We  waved 
in  return;  whereupon  they  advanced  slowly  in  our  direc- 
tion. 

As  they  neared  we  saw  them  to  be  Indians.  Their 
leader  held  before  him  a  stick  to  which  had  been  tied  a 
number  of  white  feathers.  As  they  approached  us  they 
began  to  leap  and  dance  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  weird 
rising  and  falling  chant.  They  certainly  did  not  look 
very  formidable,  with  their  heterogeneous  mixture  of 
clothing,  their  round;  black,  stupid  faces  and  their  straight 
hair.  Most  of  them  were  armed  simply  with  bows  and 
arrows,  but  three  carried  specimens  of  the  long  Spanish 
musket. 

Buck  Barry  promptly  sallied  out  to  meet  them,  and 
shook  hands  with  the  foremost.  They  then  advanced  to 
where  we  were  gathered  and  squatted  on  the  ground.  They 
were  certainly  a  villainous  and  dirty  looking  lot  of  savages, 
short,  thickset,  round  faced,  heavy  featured,  with  coarse, 
black,  matted  hair  and  little  twinkling  eyes.  A  more 
brutish  lot  of  human  beings  I  had  never  seen;  and  I  was 
almost  deceived  into  thinking  them  too  stupid  to  be  dan- 
gerous. The  leaders  had  on  remnants  of  civilized  cloth- 
ing, but  the  rank  and  file  were  content  with  scraps  of  blanket, 
old  ragged  coats,  single  shirts,  and  the  Hke.  The  oldest 
man  produced  a  long  pipe  from  beneath  his  blanket,  filled 
it  with  a  few  grains  of  coarse  tobacco,  Hghted  it  by  means  of 
a  coal  from  our  fire,  puffed  twice  on  it,  and  passed  it  to  me. 
I  perforce  had  to  whiff  at  it  also,  though  the  necessity 
nearly  turned  my  stomach.  I  might  next  have  given  it 
to  one  of  our  own  party,  but  I  did  not  want  to  deprive  him 

222 


THE    INDIANS 

of  my  own  first  hand  sensation,  so  I  handed  it  back  to 
another  of  the  visitors  for  fresh  inoculation,  as  it  were. 
Evidently  I  had  by  accident  hit  on  acceptable  etiquette,  as 
deep  grunts  of  satisfaction  testified.  After  we  had  had  a 
whiff  all  around,  the  chief  opened  negotiations  in  Spanish. 
Most  of  us  by  now  had  learned  enough  of  it  from  our  inter- 
course with  Don  Caspar  and  Vasquez  to  understand  with- 
out interpretation. 

The  Indians  said  they  wanted  to  trade. 

We  replied  that  we  saw  nothing  they  might  trade  with  us. 

In  return  they  produced  some  roots  and  several  small 
bags  of  pine  nuts. 

We  then  explained  that  we  were  reduced  in  ammunition, 
and  had  Kttle  food. 

Don  Caspar  here  interpolated  hastily,  saying  that  in 
his  judgment  it  would  be  absolutely  necessary  that  we 
made  some  sort  of  a  present  to  avoid  the  appearance  of 
intending  an  affront.  Buck  Barry  and  Jones  seemed  in- 
stantly to  accept  this  necessity. 

"Cive  them  two  or  three  of  the  saddle  blankets," 
suggested  Barry,  after  a  moment's  thought.  "We  will 
have  several  Hght  bosses  going  out;  and  if  we  have  to 
pad  the  saddles  we  can  git  along  with  skins  or  something." 

We  gave  our  visitors  the  blankets,  therefore.  They 
seemed  well  pleased,  arose,  and  shortly  made  a  primitive 
sort  of  a  camp  a  short  distance  outside  our  stockade.  We 
did  no  more  washing  that  day.  About  five  o'clock  our 
hunters  came  in  with  the  best  meat  of  a  blacktail  deer. 
Bagsby  listened  attentively  to  our  account  of  the  interview. 
Then  he  took  a  hindquarter  of  the  newly  killed  buck  and 

22$ 


GOLD 

departed  for  the  Indians'  camp,  where  he  stayed  for  an 
hour. 

*' I  don't  think  they  are  out  for  meanness/'  he  announced 
when  he  returned.  "They  tell  me  this  yere  is  on  a  sort  of 
short  cut  from  some  of  the  Truckee  lakes  down  to  tlieir 
villages.  But  we  got  to  keep  a  sharp  eye  on  our  horses; 
and  we  got  to  stand  guard  to-night." 

Very  early  in  the  morning,  when  we  were  just  up,  several 
of  the  elders  came  over  to  tell  us  that  some  of  the  young 
men  would  stay  to  work  for  us,  if  we  so  desired.  We 
repKed  that  we  had  no  goods  with  which  to  pay  for 
work.  Shortly  after,  the  whole  tribe  vanished  down 
river. 

For  two  nights  Bagsby  insisted  on  standing  guard,  and 
on  having  some  of  us  take  turns  at  it.  Then  we  declined 
flatly  to  do  so  any  longer.  The  Indians  had  gone  far  down- 
stream, as  their  trail  indicated  to  our  hunters,  and  had 
shown  no  signs  of  even  hesitating  on  the  way.  We  fell 
into  our  old  routine,  and  laughed  at  Bagsby  when  he  shook 
nis  head. 

About  this  time  Johnny  and  McNally,  scrambling  of  a 
Sunday  for  the  sake  of  a  view,  stumbled  on  a  small  ravine 
that  came  nearer  realizing  our  hoped-for  strike  than 
anything  we  had  yet  seen.  After  "puddling  out"  a  few 
potfuls  of  the  pay  dirt,  we  decided  to  move  the  cradles. 
It  was  not  over  a  half  mile  from  camp,  but  was  out  of 
sight  of  the  stockade.  The  move  was  the  occasion  for  a 
hot  discussion.  Babgsby  wanted  to  reorganize,  and  we 
were  reluctant. 

"Thar  ought  to  be  two  men  in  camp,"  said  he,  "and 

224 


THE     INDIANS 

thar  ought  never  to  be  less-n  three  together  out  hunting. 
And  that's  my  idee  —  that  ye*re  paying  me  money  for." 

"That  leaves  us  only  four  men  to  work  the  cradles," 
I  objected.     "Four  men  out  of  nine  working." 

"Well,  thar  won't  be  no  men  out  of  nine  a-workin'  if 
you  don't  watch  out,"  predicted  Bagsby.  "You-all 
forgit  this  is  a  self-supportin'  conmumity.  We  got  to 
work  for  our  living,  as  well  as  for  gold." 

"The  himters  might  go  out  less,"  suggested  McNally. 

"The  miners  might  eat  less,  then,"  replied  Bagsby 
grimly.  "This  ain't  what  you'd  call  the  best  sort  of  a 
game  coxmtry." 

We  came  to  it,  of  course,  though  with  much  grumbling. 
It  seemed  an  almost  excuseless  waste  of  good  energy;  a 
heavy  price  in  economic  efficiency  to  pay  for  insurance 
against  what  seemed  a  very  remote  peril.  But  we  did  not 
know,  and  our  uncertainty  gave  way. 

"But  hang  it!"  cried  Johnny,  "here's  more  gold  than 
a  hundred  men  could  begin  to  handle,  and  we're  wasting 
more  than  half  our  resources." 

"It  do  seem  so,"  agreed  Yank  with  his  accustomed  slow 
philosophy.  "But  we  can  put  in  longer  hours  because  we 
rest  oftener." 

A  week  passed,  and  we  had  almost  forgotten  our  chance 
visitors.  One  day  the  two  Spaniards,  Buck  Barry  and  I 
were  at  the  cradle;  Bagsby,  Yank,  and  McNally  were  the 
himters  for  the  day.  Johnny  and  Missouri  Jones  kept 
camp. 

We  had  had  a  most  successful  morning,  and  were  just 
stacking  our  tools  preparatory  to  returning  to  camp  for 

«2S 


GOLD 

dinner.  Buck  Barry  was  standing  near  some  small  sage 
bushes  at  the  upper  end  of  the  diggings.  He  was  just 
in  the  act  of  lighting  a  freshly  filled  pipe,  when  he  stepped 
as  though  petrified,  the  burning  match  suspended  above 
the  bowl  of  his  pipe.  Then  he  turned  quickly  toward  the 
sage  brush;  and  as  he  did  so  a  bow  twanged  and  an  arrow 
sang  past  his  head  so  close  as  actually  to  draw  blood  from 
the  lobe  of  his  ear.  With  a  roar  of  anger  Buck  Barry 
raised  his  pickaxe  and  charged  into  the  bush.  We  saw  a 
figure  rise  from  the  ground,  dash  away,  stumble  flat. 
Before  the  man  could  get  up  again  Buck  Barry  was  upon 
him,  and  the  pickaxe  descended.  At  the  same  instant 
we  heard  a  series  of  whoops  and  two  shots  in  rapid  suc- 
cession from  the  direction  of  camp.  Buck  Barry  came 
bounding  out  of  the  sage  brush,  and  seized  his  rifle  from 
under  the  bush  where  we  had  kept  them. 

"Come  on!"  he  panted.     "Let's  get  out  of  this!" 
We  ran  as  hard  as  we  could  go  for  a  hundred  yards,  or 
until  we  had  reached  the  flat  of  the  river  bottom.     Then  we 
paused,  uncertain  as  to  just  what  next  to  do. 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  I.  "I'll  just  take  a  look,"  and 
hurried  up  a  little  spur-knoll  to  the  right.  From  that 
elevation  I  instantly  caught  sight  of  a  crowd  of  Indians 
coming  up  the  valley  at  full  speed.  Most  of  them  were  on 
horseback,  but  a  nimiber  loped  along  on  foot,  keeping  up 
with  the  animals.  One  look  was  enough.  I  raced  down  to 
my  companions  again;  and  we  hastily  took  refuge  in  the 
only  cover  near  enough  to  conceal  us  —  a  little  clmnp  of 
willows  in  a  small,  damp  watercourse.  There  we  crouched 
rifles  ready. 

226 


THE    INDIANS 

I  was  terribly  excited.  The  patter  of  the  horses  was 
now  plainly  audible,  though,  owing  to  the  inequahties  of 
the  ground,  they  could  not  become  visible  farther  than  a 
hundred  yards  away.  I  trembled  violently,  and  cursed 
myself  for  a  coward,  though  I  really  do  not  think  I  was 
frightened.  At  any  rate,  I  became  deadly  cool  the  moment 
the  first  savage  appeared;  and  I  drew  a  steady  bead  and 
toppled  him  off  his  horse  before  any  one  else  had  got  in 
action.  The  shot  brought  them  to  a  stand.  They  had, 
I  think,  expected  to  find  us  in  our  ravine,  and  were  sur- 
prised. Immediately  I  dropped  the  butt  of  my  rifle 
to  the  ground  and  began  reloading.  A  shower  of  arrows 
flew  toward  us,  but  were  deflected  by  the  criss-cross  of 
the  willows.  In  fact,  this  lacework  of  stout  branches 
seeriied  to  be  an  excellent  sort  of  armour  against  arrows. 
In  the  meantime  my  companions  had  each  dropped  his 
man;  though  Vasquez  had  better  luck  than  skill,  as  his 
savage  was  only  clipped  in  the  leg.  I  fired  once  more,  and 
elicited  a  howl.  There  could  be  no  missing  at  the  dis- 
tance, unless  a  man  quite  lost  his  head;  and  personally  I 
was  too  scared  for  that.  Another  shower  of  arrows  rattled 
in  the  willows;  then  the  band  broke  to  right  and  left  and 
raced  away  up  the  hills  like  mad.  They  had  no  courage, 
and  lost  stomach  for  the  fight  at  once  when  they  found  us 
prepared. 

We  were  astonished  and  delighted,  for  we  had  fully 
expected  to  be  ridden  down.  As  soon  as  we  were  quite 
certain  this  sudden  retreat  was  not  a  ruse,  we  came  out 
from  our  shelter.  How  many  wounded  had  made  ofi'  —  if 
any  — -  we  could  not  tell.    Three  dead  bodies  lay  on  the 

337 


GOLD 

ground.  To  them  we  paid  no  attention,  but,  with  many 
forebodings,  hurried  back  to  camp. 

When  we  appeared  in  sight  Missouri  Jones  ran  out  to 
meet  us,  his  rifle  over  his  arm. 

'^Where's  Johnny?"  I  cried. 

"He  was  down  at  the  river  a-getting  water,"  said  Jones, 
"and  I  ain't  seen  him  since." 

We  all  ran  down  to  the  edge  of  the  river  pool  whence 
we  drew  our  supply.  For  a  moment  our  hearts  stood 
still,  for  no  Johnny  was  in  sight.  Then  he  arose  dripping 
from  the  middle  of  the  pool. 

"This  water's  cold/'  he  remarked  conversationally. 
"I  think  I'll  come  out.     Anybody  hurt? " 

He  waded  ashore,  and  shook  himself  like  a  dog. 

"I  didn't  hear  'em  until  they  were  right  on  top  of  me; 
and  I  couldn't  get  away  without  being  seen,"  said  he;  "so 
I  just  waded  out  and  imitated  a  rock  with  my  head." 

We  roared  with  laughter  by  way  of  relief. 

"It  isn't  the  first  time,  Johnny,"  said  I. 

"That's  all  right,"  put  in  Missouri  Jones.  "This  is  no 
joke.    They  got  three  of  our  bosses." 

Then  he  told  us  his  experience. 

"I  was  just  a-browning  of  the  venison,"  he  explained, 
"when  I  happened  to  look  up,  and  thar  was  three  of  our 
bosses  running  off,  tails  up,  and  a  half  dozen  Injuns  a  hoss- 
back  driving  'em.  I  let  drive  with  old  Betsey  and  Johnny's 
gun,  but  they  was  about  out  of  range.  While  I  was 
looking  after  them  about  forty  Injuns  went  past  sky-hootin\ 
I  suppose  they  thought  the  first  lot  had  all  the  bosses,  and 
90  they  didn't  stop.    The  rest  of  the  hoases,  luckily,  was 

3SS 


THE     INDIANS 

asleep  behind  the  cottonwoods.  You  bet  I  didn't  call 
their  attention  to  myself.*' 

He  exhibited  the  greatest  satisfaction  when  he  learned 
that  we  had  accounted  for  four. 

"That's  something  like  Injun  fighting,"  he  observed, 
"though  these  are  a  pore,  spiritless  lot.  The  whole  bag 
ain't  worth  more  than  one  of  them  good  bosses." 

We  did  no  more  gold  washing  that  day,  but  remained 
close  in  camp,  consumed  with  anxiety  for  our  companions. 
From  time  to  time  we  fired  a  rifle,  with  the  idea  of  warning 
them  that  something  was  amiss.  The  remaining  half- 
dozen  horses  we  ran  into  the  corral. 

Night  fell  and  still  the  himters  did  not  return.  We  were 
greatly  alarmed  and  distressed,  but  we  could  not  think  of 
anything  to  do,  for  we  had  not  the  least  idea  in  what  di- 
rection to  look. 

"Bagsby  and  Yank  are  old  hands,"  speculated  Missouri 
Jones  consolingly.  "And  the  fact  that  Injuns  is  abroad 
would  make  them  slow  and  careful." 

None  of  us  felt  like  turning  in.  We  all  sat  outside  on 
the  ground  around  a  little  fire. 

Toward  midnight  we  heard  voices;  and  a  moment  later 
Yank  and  Bagsby  strode  in  out  of  the  darkness. 

"Where's  McNally?"  Yank  instantly  demanded. 
"Hasn't  he  come  in  yet?" 

We  told  him  we  had  seen  nothing  of  the  missing  man. 

"Well,  he'll  drift  in  pretty  soon,"  said  Bagsby.  "We 
lost  him  in  the  darkness  not  two  hours  back." 

They  set  to  frying  some  venison  steak.  Excitedly  and 
in  antiphony  Johnny  and  I  detailed  the  day's  adventure. 

329 


GOLD 

Both  the  backswoodsmen  listened  in  silence,  but  without 
suspending  their  cooking. 

"They  didn't  bother  McNally,"  Bagsby  decided. 
*^  They'd  drive  those  bosses  away  five  or  six  miles  before 
they'd  stop;  and  McNally  was  with  us  just  a  Httle  piecf 
back.    He'll  be  in  by  the  time  the  venison  is  cooked." 

But  he  was  not;  nor  by  an  hour  later.  Then  we  decided 
that  we  must  go  out  to  look  for  him. 

"We  can't  see  nothin'  till  daylight,"  said  Bagsby,  "but 
we  can  get  started  back  for  the  last  place  we  saw  him." 

It  was  now  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Bagsby 
appointed  Vasquez,  Missouri  Jones,  Buck  Barry,  Yank  and 
myself  to  accompany  him.  Don  Gaspar  was  suffering  from 
a  slight  attack  of  malarial  fever;  and  Johnny,  to  his  vast 
disgust,  was  left  to  hold  him  company.  We  took  each  a 
horse,  which  we  had  to  ride  bareback  and  with  a  twisted 
rope  "war  halter." 

Bagsby  led  the  way,  and  we  followed  closely  nose  to 
tail.  It  was  an  interesting  and  wonderful  experience,  had 
I  had  more  attention  to  give  it,  for  we  rode  mysteriously 
neck  deep  in  velvet  darkness  over  strange  hills,  and  awful 
shapes  rose  mysteriously,  and  the  sky  silvered  with  stars 
like  the  glittering  of  little  waves.  But  my  mind  was  filled 
with  dread  and  foreboding,  and  a  great  anxiety  for  our 
merry,  blue-eyed  companion,  and  a  very  considerable 
wonder  as  to  how  our  guide  managed  to  find  his  way. 

He  did  not  hesitate,  however,  as  to  direction;  only 
occasionally  he  had  to  stop  and  cast  back  and  aroimd  for  a 
way  through.  Often,  at  a  low  command  from  him,  we 
dismounted  and  led  our  animals. 

230 


! 


THE    INDIANS 

We  proceeded  thus  for  a  long  time  —  five  or  six  miles,  I 
should  think.  By  the  undefined  feeling  of  dark  space  at 
either  hand  I  judged  we  must  be  atop  a  ridge.  Bagsby 
halted. 

*'It  was  somewhere  on  this  ridge  we  left  him,"  said  he. 
*^I  reckon  now  we'd  just  better  set  down  and  wait  for 
dawn." 

Accordingly  we  dismounted  and  drew  together  in  a 
little  group.  Over  the  top  of  the  great  ranges  a  gibbous 
moon  rose  slowly.  By  her  dim  light  I  could  make  out  the 
plunge  on  either  side  our  lidge,  and  the  other  dark  ridges 
across  the  way.  Behind  us  our  horses  occasionally  stamped 
a  hoof  or  blew  softly  through  their  noses. 

I  lay  flat  on  my  back,  and  idly  counted  the  stars.  Hap- 
pening to  glance  sidewise,  I  caught  the  flicker  of  a  distant 
light. 

"Bagsby,'^  I  whispered,  "there's  a  fire  not  more  than  a 
L**If  mile  away." 

He  too  lay  down  in  order  to  get  my  angle  of  view. 

"It's  not  McNally,"  he  pronounced  after  a  moment's 
careful  inspection,  "for  it's  too  big  a  fire,  and  it's  a  lot 
more  than  half  a  mile  away.  That's  a  good  big  fire.  I 
think  it's  Injuns." 

"Probably  the  same  gang  that  lifted  our  bosses!"  cried 
Buck. 

"Probably,"  agreed  Bagsby.  He  sat  upright  and  peered 
at  us  through  the  dim  moonlight.  "Want  to  get  after 
them?"  he  inquired. 

"You  bet!"  said  Buck  emphatically.  "They  may  have 
McNally,  and  if  they  haven't,  they've  got  our  horses." 

231 


GOLD 

"There's  six  of  us  and  ve  can  shore  make  it  interesting 
for  that  lot/'  agreed  Yank.  "  Can  we  get  to  where  they 
are?" 

"I  think  so,"  said  Bagsby. 

We  rode  for  another  hour,  slanting  down  the  mountain- 
side toward  the  flickering  fire.  Every  time  a  horse  rolled 
a  rock  or  broke  a  dried  branch  it  seemed  to  me  that  the 
mountains  reverberated  from  end  to  end.  I  don't  believe 
I  allowed  myself  to  weigh  over  six  oimces  all  told.  Finally 
we  left  the  slope  for  the  bottom  of  the  valley. 

"I'd  rather  be  below  their  camp  than  above  it.  It's 
going  to  be  hard  to  get  out  this  way,"  complained  Bagsby, 
"but  it's  the  best  we  can  do."  He  dismounted  us,  and  we 
crept  forward  another  half  mile,  leading  our  animals. 

"This  is  as  close  as  I  dare  take  the  bosses,"  whispered 
Bagsby.  "Vasquez,  you  stay  here  with  them,"  he  said  in 
Spanish,  "and  when  I  yell  twice  quick  and  sharp,  you  answer 
so  we'll  know  where  to  find  you.    Come  on! " 

We  stole  forward  slowly.  The  fire  leaped  and  flared 
beneath  the  widespread  branches  of  a  tree.  Around  it 
lay  a  half  dozen  or  so  recumbent  shapes  wrapped  in  blan- 
kets. How  many  more  might  be  lying  beyond  the  light 
circle  we  could  not  tell.  Beyond  them  we  saw  dimly  the 
forms  of  dozing  horses.  Obeying  a  signal  from  the  old 
trapper,  we  circled  the  camp  mitil  we  were  on  the  same  side 
as  the  animals.  They  raised  their  heads  and  blew  softly 
at  us;  but  we  lay  still,  and  shortly  they  quieted  down. 

"Now,"  breathed  Bagsby,  "when  I  give  the  word,  fire. 
And  each  man  grab  a  horse  by  the  picket  rope,  stampede 
the  rest,  and  hustle  back  to  Vasquez.    Ready!" 

232 


THE     INDIANS 

We  raised  our  pieces,  but  before  the  command  to  fire 
was  given,  one  of  the  sleepers  threw  aside  his  blanket-, 
stretched  himself  and  arose.     It  was  a  white  man ! 

I  confess  that  for  a  moment  I  turned  physically  sick. 

''Hello!"  called  Bagsby,  quite  unmoved. 

The  white  man  seized  his  rifle,  and  the  recumbent  forms 
leaped  to  Hfe. 

"Who  are  you?"  he  demanded  sharply.  "Speak 
quick!" 

"Keep  yore  ha'r  on!"  drawled  the  trapper,  advancing 
into  the  light.  "We're  perfectly  respectable  miners,  out 
looking  for  a  lost  man;  and  we  saw  yore  fire." 

The  rest  of  us  uttered  a  yell  of  joy  and  relief.  One  of 
the  men  who  had  been  sleeping  around  the  fire  was  McNally 
himself. 

We  drew  together,  explaining,  congratulating.  The 
strangers,  six  in  number,  turned  out  to  be  travellers  from 
the  eastern  side  of  the  ranges.  They  hstened  with  interest 
and  attention  to  our  account  of  the  Indian  attack.  McNally 
explained  that  he  had  been  uncertain  of  his  route  in  the 
dark;  so  that  when  he  had  caught  sight  of  the  fire  he  had 
made  his  way  to  it.  We  were  still  engaged  in  this  mutual 
explanation  when  we  were  struck  dumb  by  a  long-drawn- 
out  yell  from  the  direction  of  our  own  horses. 

"It  is  Vasquez,"  explained  Barry.  "He  wants  to  let 
us  know  where  he  is,"  and  he  answered  the  yell. 

But  at  that  moment  one  of  our  own  horses  dashed  up 
to  the  bunch  of  picketed  animals  and  wheeled,  trembHng. 
Its  rope  bridle  dangled  broken  from  its  head.  Sam  Bagsby 
darted  forward  to  seize  the  hanging  cord. 

333 


GOLD 

"It's  cut!"  he  cried.  ''Quick!  Out  across  the  valley, 
boys!" 

We  followed  him  into  the  moonlight,  grasping  our  rifles. 
A  moment  later  a  compact  band  swept  toward  us  at  full 
speed,  our  horses  in  the  lead,  their  rope  halters  dangling, 
a  dozen  Indians  on  horseback  following  close  at  their 
heels  and  urging  them  on. 

"Shoot,  boys!"  yelled  Bagsby,  discharging  his  own  piece. 

Our  rifles  cracked.  It  was  impossible  to  take  aim; 
and  I  am  sure  we  hit  nothing.  But  the  horses  swerved 
aside  from  the  long  fiery  flashes,  and  so  ran  into  the  picketed 
lot  and  stopped.  The  Indians  flew  on  through  our  scat- 
tered line  without  stopping,  pursued  by  a  sputter  of  shots 
from  our  Colt's  revolvers. 

"A  while  ago  I  was  sorry  we  had  to  stop  above  camp," 
said  Bagsby  with  satisfaction;  "but  it  was  a  lucky  thiE^ 
for  us.     They  had  to  come  by  us  to  git  out." 

"And  Vasquez?"  Yank  struck  across  our  exultation. 


234 


CHAPTER  XXV 
BATTLE 

We  had  a  good  deal  of  trouble  finding  the  exact  spot 
where  we  had  left  him,  for  we  could  get  no  answer  to  our 
calls.  He  was  down  in  a  heap,  covered  with  blood,  and 
quite  dead.  The  savages  had  scalped  him.  In  our  long 
companionship  we  had  grown  very  fond  of  him,  for  he  was 
a  merry,  good-natured,  willing  soul. 

*^God!''  cried  Bagsby,  deeply  moved.  "I'll  put  a  ball 
through  the  next  one  of  those  devils  I  meet!" 

We  returned  slowly  to  the  fire,  carrying  the  body,  which 
we  laid  reverently  one  side  and  covered  with  a  blanket. 
In  all  our  hearts  burned  a  fierce,  bitter  anger.  Sullenly  we 
turned  to  prepare  ourselves  a  meal  from  the  supplies  our 
hosts  offered  us. 

The  latter  were  the  father  and  five  sons  of  a  backwoods 
family  from  the  northwest  —  Pine,  by  name.  They  were  all 
tall,  heavily  built  men,  slow  moving,  slow  speaking,  with 
clear,  steady  eyes,  a  drawling  way  of  talking,  and  the 
appearance  always  of  keeping  a  mental  reservation  as  to 
those  with  whom  they  conversed.  I  suppose  they  were 
ignorant  enough  men,  as  far  as  education  goes,  but  they 
always  impressed  me  as  being  somehow  a  superior  type. 
Possibly  it  was  because  of  the  fact  that  they  perfectly  cor- 
responded to  their  environment,  which  was  the  wilderness. 

235 


GOLD 

In  detail,  the  old  man  was  upward  of  sixty,  his  beard  long 
and  grizzled,  his  hair  about  his  shoulders.  The  oldest  son 
would  count  about  thirty,  and  the  others  went  down  in 
stepladder  fashion  to  the  youngster,  a  fine,  big,  smooth- 
faced boy  of  sixteen.  They  were  named  after  old  Pine's 
favourite  heroes,  evidently.  There  was  David  Crockett 
Pine,  and  Governor  Boggs  Pine,  and  President  Tyler 
Pine,  and  Daniel  Boone  Pine,  and  Old  Hickory  Pine,  the 
youngest,  an  apparent  contradiction  in  terms.  They  were 
called  by  their  odd  first  names — Governor,  President,  Old — 
without  the  least  himiour. 

Just  now  they  stood  tall  and  grim  behind  us  as 
we  ate;  and  the  gray  dawn  and  the  rose  dawn  grew 
into  day.  Nobody  said  anything  until  we  had  finished. 
Then  Yank  rose  to  his  full  height  and  faced  the  atten- 
tive men. 

"I  want  vengeance,"  he  announced  in  an  even  voice, 
stretching  forth  his  long,  lean  arm.  ^*  Those  devils  have 
harried  our  stock  and  killed  our  pardner;  and  I'm  not 
going  to  set  quiet  and  let  them  do  it."  He  turned  to  us: 
**Boys,"  said  he,  ^'I  know  you're  with  me  thar.  But  I'm 
going  to  git  our  friends  yere  to  go  with  us.  Old  man,'^ 
he  said  to  Pine,  "you  and  yore  sons  help  us  with  this  job^ 
and  we'll  locate  you  on  the  purtiest  diggings  in  these  hills." 

"You  bet! "  agreed  McNally. 

"You  don't  need  to  make  my  boys  no  offer,"  replied 
Pine  slowly.  "Those  divils  were  after  our  bosses  too;  and 
they'd  have  got  them  if  you  hadn't  come  along.  We'd 
been  told  by  a  man  we  believe  that  there  wan't  no  Injuns 
in  this  country,  or  you  wouldn't  have  seen  us  sleeping  es 

236 


BATTLE 

close  to  our  fire.  Whar  do  you-all  reckon  to  come  up  with 
them?" 

Our  old  trapper  interposed. 

"Their  rancheree  is  down  the  valley  somewhars,"  said 
Bagsby,  "and  we'll  have  to  scout  for  it.  We  must  go 
back  to  camp  first  and  get  a  ready.'' 

McNally  and  I  murmured  against  this  check  to  immediate 
action,  but  saw  the  point  after  a  moment.  The  Pines 
packed  their  slender  outfit;  we  bound  the  body  of  our  poor 
friend  across  his  horse,  and  mournfully  retraced  our  steps. 

We  arrived  in  camp  about  ten  o'clock,  to  find  Johnny  and 
Don  Caspar  anxiously  on  the  alert.  When  we  had  imparted 
our  news,  their  faces,  too,  darkened  with  anger.  Of  us  all 
Vasquez  had  been  the  only  man  who  never  lost  his  temper, 
who  had  always  a  flash  of  a  smile  for  the  hardest  days. 
Hastily  we  threw  together  provisions  for  several  days,  and 
arranged  our  affairs  as  well  as  we  could.  We  all  wanted 
to  go;  and  Don  Caspar,  in  spite  of  the  remains  of  his 
malarial  fever,  fairly  insisted  on  accompanying  the  ex- 
pedition. 

"Senores,"  he  said  with  dignity,  "this  was  my  own  man 
from  my  own  people." 

Nevertheless  somebody  had  to  stay  in  camp,  although 
at  first  some  of  us  were  incHned  to  slur  over  that  necessity. 

"There's  a  strong  chance  that  Injuns  will  drift  by  and 
take  all  our  suppKes,"  Bagsby  pointed  out. 

"Chances  are  slim  —  in  only  a  day  or  so;  you  must 
admit  that,"  argued  Johnny.  "Let's  risk  it.  We  can 
scratch  along  if  they  do  take  our  stuff." 

"And  the  gold?" 

as? 


GOLD 

That  nonplussed  us  for  a  moment. 

*'Why  not  bury  it?"  I  suggested. 

Bagsby  and  Pine  snorted. 

"Any  Injun  would  find  it  in  a  minute, '^  said  Pine. 

"And  they  know  gold's  worth  something,  too,'^  put  iz 
Yank. 

"This  is  a  scout,  not  a  house-moving  expedition,' 
said  Bagsby  decidedly,  "and  somebody's  got  to  keep  camp.'- 

"I'll  stay,  fer  one,"  offered  old  man  Pine,  his  eyes 
twinkling  from  beneath  his  fierce  brows.  "I've  fit  enough 
Injuns  in  my  time." 

After  some  further  wrangling  we  came  to  drawing  lots. 
A  number  of  smaU  white  pebbles  and  one  darker  were 
shaken  up  in  a  hat.  I  drew  in  the  fourth  turn,  and  g(?^ 
the  black! 

"Hard  luck,  son!"  murmured  old  man  Pine, 

The  rest  were  eager  to  be  off.  They  leaped  upon  their 
horses,  brandishing  their  long  rifles,  and  rode  off  down  the 
meadow.  Old  man  Pine  leaned  on  the  muzzle  oi  his  gun, 
liis  eyes  gleaming,  uttering  commands  and  admonitions 
to  his  five  sons. 

"You  Old,"  he  warned  his  youngest,  "you  mind  and 
behave;  and  don't  come  back  yere  without'n  you  bring  a 
skelp!" 

We  spent  the  next  two  days  strictly  in  defence,  for  we 
dared  not  stay  long  from  the  stockade.  I  was  so  thoroughly 
downcast  at  missing  the  fight  that  I  paid  Httle  attention 
to  Pine's  well-meant  talk.  My  depression  was  enhanced 
by  the  performance  of  the  duty  the  others  had  left  to  our 
leisure.    I  mean  the  interment  of  poor  Vasquez.    We 

23S 


BATTLE 

buried  him  in  a  grassy  little  flat;  and  I  occupied  my  time 
hewing  and  fashioning  into  the  shape  of  a  cross  two  pine 
logs,  on  the  smoothed  surface  of  which  I  carved  our  friend's 
name.  Then  I  returned  to  the  stockade,  where  old  man 
Pine,  a  picturesque,  tall  figure  in  his  fringed  hunter's 
buckskin,  sat  motionless  before  the  cabin  door.  From  that 
point  of  vantage  one  could  see  a  mile  down  the  valley,  and 
some  distance  upstream;  and  one  or  the  other  of  us  occupied 
it  constantly. 

About  three  o'clock  of  the  second  day  Pine  remarked 
quietly: 

"Thar  they  come!" 

I  was  instantly  by  his  side,  and  we  strained  our  eyesight 
in  an  attempt  to  count  the  shifting  figures.  Pine's  vision 
was  better  and  more  practised  than  mine. 

"They  are  all  thar,"  said  he,  "and  they're  driving  extry 
bosses." 

Ten  minutes  later  the  cavalcade  stopped  and  the  men 
dismounted  wearily.  They  were,  as  the  old  man  had  said, 
driving  before  them  a  half  dozen  ponies,  which  Governor 
Boggs  herded  into  the  corral.  Nobody  said  a  word.  One 
or  two  stretched  themselves.  Johnny  seized  the  cup  and 
took  a  long  drink.  Yank  leaned  his  rifle  against  the  wall. 
Old  man  Pine's  keen,  fierce  eye  had  been  roving  over  every 
detail,  though  he,  too,  had  kept  silent. 

"Well,  Old,"  he  remarked,  "I  see  you  obeyed  orders 
like  a  good  sojer." 

The  boy  grinned. 

"Yes,  dad,"  said  he. 

And  then  I  saw  what  I  had  not  noticed  before:  that  at 

239 


GOLD 

the  belt  of  each  of  the  tall,  silent  young  backwoodsmen  hung 
one  or  more  wet,  heavy,  red  and  black  soggy  strips.  The 
scalping  had  been  no  mere  figure  of  speech!  Thank 
heaven !  none  of  our  own  people  were  similiarly  decorated! 

So  horrified  and  revolted  was  I  at  this  discovery  that  I 
hardly  roused  myself  to  greet  the  men.  I  looked  with 
aversion,  and  yet  with  a  certain  fascination  on  the  serene, 
clear  features  of  these  scalp  takers.  Yet,  since,  in  the 
day^  following,  this  aversion  could  not  but  wear  away  in 
face  of  the  simplicity  and  straightforwardness  of  the 
frontiersmen,  I  had  to  acknowledge  that  the  atrocious 
deed  was  more  a  product  of  custom  than  of  natural  bar- 
barity. 

Old  Pine,  of  course  not  at  all  affected,  bustled  about  in 
the  more  practical  matter  of  getting  coffee  and  cutting 
meat;  and  after  a  moment  I  aroused  myself  to  help  him. 
The  men  lay  about  on  the  ground  exhausted.  They 
drank  the  coffee  and  ate  the  meat,  and  so  revived,  little 
by  little,  arrived  at  the  point  of  narration. 

"It's  sure  one  hell  of  a  ride  down  there,"  remarked 
McNally  with  a  sigh. 

*'Good  deal  like  the  foothills  of  th'  Snake  Range,  pop," 
put  in  President  Tyler  Pine. 

"We  been  riding  purty  nigh  every  minute  sence  we  left 
here,"  agreed  Bagsby.  "That  rancheree  was  hard  to 
find." 

little  by  little  the  tale  developed.  No  one  man,  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  others,  felt  like  telling  us  the  whole 
story.  We  gathered  that  they  had  ridden  the  cafion  for 
several  hours,  past  our  first  camping  grounds,  and  finally 


■OTgl^g^, 


BATTLE 

out  into  the  lower  ranges.  Here  they  lost  the  trail  left 
by  the  Indians  when  they  had  first  visited  our  camp; 
but  in  casting  in  circles  for  it  had  come  on  fresher  pony 
tracks.  These  they  had  followed  persistently  for  many 
miles. 

^'/  couldn't  see  the  sign  of  a  track  for  a  mile  at  a  time, 
on  that  hard  ground,"  interpolated  Johnny. 

At  length  the  tracks  had  struck  into  a  beaten  trail. 

"And  then  we  knew  we  were  on  the  way  to  the  ranch- 
eree/'  said  Bagsby. 

The  village  they  found  located  in  a  fbit  by  the  side  of 
a  stream,  and  they  halted  to  determine  just  what  to  do. 
It  was  finally  decided  that  while  an  attack  on  horseback 
would  undoubtedly  strike  more  instant  terror,  yet  the 
difficulty  of  shooting  accurately  from  a  gallop  would  more 
than  offset  this  effect.  Therefore  nine  of  the  party  crept 
up  afoot,  leaving  three  to  lead  forward  the  horses  some 
distance  in  the  rear. 

"I  was  one  of  them,"  said  Johnny.  "They  evidently 
have  seen  me  shoot.    I  seem  to  be  always  out  of  it." 

The  men  had  wormed  their  way  to  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  flimsy  huts,  or  tepees,  when  they  were  dis- 
covered by  the  dogs.  The  Indians  immediately  rushed 
out  pell-mell,  in  a  crowd,  and  were  met  by  a  deadly  volley 
from  the  white  men's  rifles.  Caught  absolutely  by  sur- 
prise, they  turned  and  fled.  Some  few  loosed  random  arrows. 
Their  horses  coming  up  at  a  run  in  convoy  of  the  rear 
guard,  each  man  threw  himself  into  his  saddle  and  started 
in  pursuit,  shooting  right  and  left  with  the  Colt's  revolvers 
whenever  they  caught  up  with  the  fugitives.    Johnny  told 

341 


GOLD 

admiringly  how  the  backwoodsmen  had  reloaded  their 
rifles  while  galloping. 

"All  I  could  do  to  shoot  mine  off,  let  alone  loading!" 
he  confessed. 

There  was  no  resistance,  and  little  mortality  after  the 
first  volley.  The  Indians  bolted  like  rabbits  into  the 
brush.  The  white  men  then  returned  leisurely  to  the 
village,  which  they  proceeded  to  burn  to  the  ground. 

" It  made  a  grand  bonfire,"  interrupted  Johnny.  "Went 
up  like  gunpowder.  And  the  Indians  yelled  and  howled  at 
us  from  the  sidehills  all  the  time." 

The  raiders  had  fired  a  few  defiant  and  random  shots  in 
the  direction  of  the  howling,  and  then,  after  collecting  the 
ponies  that  had  not  stampeded,  rode  slowly  back  the  way 
they  had  come. 

"Didn't  see  anything  of  our  three  horses?"  I  asked. 

"Nary  hoss,"  said  Buck  Barry.  "I  figger  they  jest 
nat'rally  stampeded  off  when  the  row  started." 

"Are  you  sure  those  were  the  same  Indians?"  I  asked. 

A  long  silence  fell. 

"Well,  what  if  they  wasn't  —  and  that's  by  no  means 
sure,"  demanded  Buck  Barry  at  last,  a  little  defiantly. 
"The  whole  lot  is  thieves  and  murderers;  and  if  they'd 
had  a  chance  at  us,  you  bet  they'd  have  taken  it.  And  we 
showed  the  red  devils  they  can't  monkey  with  us!" 

I  looked  toward  the  cross  over  Vasquez,  murdered  as 
wantonly  as  ever  man  was  murdered  for  plunder,  and  could 
find  nothing  to  say.  Whatever  the  eternal  equities  of  the 
case  may  be  —  and  long  since  I  have  given  up  trying  to 
guess  what  they  are  —  the  cold,  practical  fact  remains, 

242 


r 


BATTLE 

that  never  during  our  stay  on  the  Porcupine  did  any  Indian 
come  near  us  again.  And  I  am  convinced  that  if  the  initial 
stealing  of  horses  and  murder  had  gone  without  reprisal, 
we  should  have  been  a  second  time  and  more  boldly  at- 
tacked. But  if  that  was  the  wrong  village,  what  a  train  of 
reprisals  and  reprisals  again  in  turn  we  may  have  laid! 

"Only  we  didn't  start  it,  and  never  would  have!"  per- 
sisted Johnny  stoutly. 


243 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
WE  SEND  OUT  OUR  TREASURE 

Though  these  Indian  troubles  had  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
nevertheless  they  marked  the  beginning  of  our  change  of 
luck.  We  suffered  no  definite  misfortunes;  but  things 
did  not  go  weU.  The  slight  malarial  attack  of  Don  Caspar 
was  the  first  of  an  annoying  series.  I  suppose  we  had  all 
been  inoculated  on  the  marshes  of  the  Sacramento,  and 
the  disease  had  remained  latent  in  oiir  systems.  The  hard 
work  in  the  open  air  had  kept  us  healthy;  but  the  fever  only 
awaited  the  favourable  moment  of  depression  or  of  over- 
work. The  combination  of  ice  cold  water  aroimd  our 
legs  and  burning  sun  on  our  heads  was  not  the  best  in  the 
world.  Fortunately  Yank,  who  came  from  an  ague  country, 
had  had  foresight  enough  to  bring  a  supply  of  quinine. 
For  two  months  one  or  the  other  of  us  was  ailing;  and  once 
for  a  few  days  five  of  us  were  down! 

Then,  too,  I  think  the  zest  of  the  game  was  palling  on 
us  a  little,  strange  as  it  may  seem.  We  could  dig  gold  from 
the  soil  almost  at  wiU.  It  would  seem  that  this  single  fact 
would  keep  normally  acquisitive  men  keyed  to  a  high 
pitch  of  endeavour  all  the  time;  but  it  was  not  so.  I  sup- 
pose we  needed  a  vacation.  We  began  to  discuss  what 
we  would  do  when  we  should  see  the  city  again.  No  one 
for  a  moment  dreamed  that  we  should  quit  these  rich 

U4 


WE    SEND     OUT     OUR     TREASURE 

diggings.  We  were  here  to  make  our  fortunes;  and  the 
fortunes  seemed  to  be  ready  for  the  making.  Only  the 
novelty  having  passed,  it  had  become  hard  work,  just  like 
the  making  of  any  other  kind  of  a  fortune. 

The  Pine  family  camped  below  us,  used  our  corral,  at 
our  invitation,  and  set  placidly  to  work.  They  were 
typical  frontiersmen,  and  settled  down  in  the  well-built 
cabin  which  they  quickly  ran  up  as  though  they  meant  to 
make  of  it  a  permanent  home.  For  two  months,  which 
brought  us  up  to  the  end  of  July,  they  Hved  a  regular  and 
leisurely  life.  Then  one  morning,  without  any  warning 
at  all,  they  rode  over  to  our  cabin,  leading  their  horses, 
fully  packed.  Old  man  Pine  explained,  while  his  five 
tall,  steady-eyed  sons  sat  their  horses  quite  immobile 
in  the  background,  that  they  had  dug  enough  gold  for 
their  necessities,  and  that  they  were  now  going  down  to  the 
lower  country  to  pick  out  some  good  land.  These  men 
wereJJie  very  first  I  happened  to  meet  who  had  come  into 
the  country  with  a  definite  idea  of  settling. 

After  the  departure  of  this  strong  force,  began  our 
discussions  as  to  the  safeguarding  of  our  gold.  It  had  now 
reached  a  very  considerable  sum  —  somewhere  near  thirty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  as  I  remember  it.  Bagsby  was 
very  uneasy  at  its  presence  in  camp. 

''The  Injims  are  beginning  to  know  it's  wuth  something,'* 
he  pointed  out.  "They  don't  know  yet  how  much,  but 
they  know  it  will  buy  beads  and  buttons  and  paint  and 
whiskey  and  everything  else  an  Injun  wants.  And  they 
know  that's  what  we're  yere  for;  and  that  we  must  have 
a  lot  of  it.    I  don't  calc'late  that  lot  we  licked  will  bother 

245 


GOLD 

us  ag'in;  but  they'll  spread  the  news  we're  yere.  And 
there's  lots  of  bandits  and  scoundrels  glad  to  take  a  chance 
at  us.  And  while  we  come  out  all  right  before,  they'll 
git  us  in  the  long  run  if  we  keep  at  it.  I'd  like  to  git  rid 
of  the  stuff." 

Don  Caspar  agreed  with  him,  as  did  also  Yank,  Buck 
Barry,  and  Missouri  Jones.  McNally,  Johnny,  and  I 
inclined  to  the  belief  that  we  would  do  better  to  keep  our 
wealth  by  us  until  we  finally  left  the  diggings,  maintaining 
always  a  proper  guard.  We  could  not  quite  see  how  the 
sending  out  of  the  gold  would  much  reduce  the  likelihood 
of  attack;  but  the  others  seemed  to  think  the  gold  would 
then  be  safe  anyhow,  and  that  the  news  of  its  delivery  at 
Sutter's  Fort  would  soon  spread  abroad. 

About  this  time  the  discussion  took  a  more  practical 
turn  from  the  fact  that  our  provisions  had  run  so  low  that 
we  had  put  ourselves  on  half  rations.  As  we  did  not 
believe  it  desirable  nor  healthy  to  drop  down  to  an  exclu- 
sively game  diet,  it  would  soon  become  necessary  to  go  for 
more  flour  and  coffee. 

Buck  Barry  now  brought  up  again  strongly  the  advis- 
ability of  sending  our  treasure  out  to  a  safe  place.  His 
argument  was  given  point  by  the  arrival  in  camp  one  evening 
of  three  evil-looking  Mexicans,  shabbily  clothed,  but  well- 
armed,  and  mounted  on  beautiful  horses.  We  fed  them 
well,  but  saw  to  the  caps  of  our  revolvers  and  the  security 
of  our  corral  before  turning  in  for  the  night.  In  the  morning 
they  departed  before  we  were  stirring,  without  so  much  as  a 
word  of  thanks.  These  mysterious  visitors  had  given  us 
no  faintest  inkling  of  their  business  or  destination.    Don 

246 


WE     SEND     OUT    OUR     TREASURE 

Caspar  stated  flatly  that  they  had  come  to  spy  us  out, 
having  heard  of  our  presence  in  the  valley  from  the  Indians. 

''And  I  told  them/'  said  he  triumphantly,  "that  essoon 
we  would  be  sen'  out  for  the  food." 

He  went  on  to  argue  that  thus  he  had  prepared  their 
minds  for  the  fact  that  pack-horses  would  soon  be  going 
out.  By  distributing  the  gold  its  presence  would  be 
unsuspected. 

I  suggested  a  strong  guard,  but  both  Bagsby  and  Don 
Caspar  opposed  me. 

''There's  enough  of  these  yere  robbers  to  git  us  anyhow, 
even  if  we  all  went,"  said  Bagsby,  "and  that's  why  I  want  1^ 
send  the  stuff  out  now.  The  place  they'll  tackle  will  be 
right  yere,  if  they  tackle  anything  at  all " 

I  will  not  weary  you  with  the  pros  and  cons.  At  the 
time  I  thought,  and  I  still  think,  the  whole  arrangement 
most  ill  advised;  but  against  me  was  the  united  opinion  of 
nearly  the  whole  camp,  including  the  most  level-headed 
members  of  my  own  party.  It  was  finally  agreed  that 
Yank,  Buck  Barry,  and  Don  Caspar  should  take  out  the 
gold. 

They  started  very  early  in  the  morning,  carrying  the 
treasure  in  saddle-bags  and  across  the  horns  of  the  saddle. 
I  argued  that  Yank  rode  much  the  lightest  and  had  the 
strongest  horse,  and  managed  to  get  the  others  to  confide 
to  him  a  full  half  of  the  metal.  At  the  last  moment  we  had 
modified  the  original  plan  to  suit  everybody.  The  horse- 
men encumbered  by  pack-animals  were  to  push  on  as 
rapidly  as  possible  in  order  to  reach  by  nightfall  the  set- 
tlement where  dwelt  the  Italian  friend.    Once  there  they 

247 


GOLD 

could  feel  themselves  reasonably  safe.  Johnny,  Missouri 
Jones  and  I  would  ride  with  them  until  noon  as  a  sort  of 
escort  for  the  uninhabited  portion  of  the  journey.  By  that 
hour  we  figured  we  should  have  reached  the  outskirts 
of  the  regular  diggings,  where,  our  experience  told  us,  our 
companions  would  be  safe. 

Accordingly  we  pushed  our  mounts  hard.  Unhampered 
by  pack-animals,  and  aided  by  knowledge  of  the  route,  we 
made  great  progress.  By  noon  we  had  passed  the  meadow 
of  our  night's  camp.  After  a  hasty  lunch  we  accompanied 
our  men  a  few  miles  farther,  then  said  farewell  and  god- 
speed, and  hurried  back  in  order  to  reach  home  before 
sunset. 


24« 


CHAPTER  XXVn 
THE  ROBBERY 

We  cooked  ourselves  a  meal,  and  built  ourselves  a  fire. 
About  midnight  we  heard  the  sounds  of  horses  rapidly 
approaching.  Immediately  we  leaped  from  our  bunks 
and  seized  our  rifles,  peering  anxiously  into  the  darkness. 
A  moment  later,  however,  we  were  reassured  by  a  shrill 
whistle  pecuHar  to  Buck  Barry,  and  a  moment  later  he  and 
Don  Caspar  rode  into  camp. 

We  assailed  them  with  a  storm  of  questions  —  why  had 
they  returned?  what  had  happened?  where  was  Yank?  had 
there  been  an  accident? 

Don  Caspar,  who  appeared  very  weary  and  depressed, 
shook  his  head  sadly.  Barry  looked  at  us  savagely  from 
beneath  his  brows. 

*'The  gold  is  gone;  and  that's  an  end  of  it!"  he  growled. 

At  these  words  a  careful,  dead  silence  fell  on  us  all. 
The  situation  had  suddenly  become  too  serious  for  hasty 
treatment.  We  felt  instinctively  that  a  wrong  word 
might  do  irreparable  damage.  But  in  our  hearts  suspicion 
and  anger  and  dull  hatred  leaped  to  life  full  grown.  We 
tightened  our  belts,  as  it  were,  and  clamped  our  elbows  to 
our  sides,  and  became  wary,  watcliing  with  unfriendly  eyes. 
Johnny  alone  opened  his  Kps. 

"  Lost?    I  don' t  believe  it ! "  he  cried. 

«4© 


GOLD 

Barry  cast  an  ugly  look  at  him,  but  said  nothing.  We 
all  saw  that  look. 

"Where's  Yank?"  I  asked. 

"Dead  by  now,  I  suppose,"  flung  back  Barry. 

"Good  God!"  I  cried;  and  under  my  breath,  "Then 
you  Ve  murdered  him ! " 

I  don't  know  whether  Barry  heard  me  or  not,  and  at  the 
time  I  did  not  much  care.  His  sullen  eye  was  resting  on 
one  after  the  other  of  us  as  we  stood  there  in  the  firelight. 
Every  face  was  angry  and  suspicious.  Barry  flung  himself 
from  his  horse,  tore  the  pad  from  its  back,  slapped  it  on 
the  flank,  and  turned  away,  reckless  of  where  it  went. 
He  cut  himself  a  steak  and  set  to  cooking  his  food,  an  un- 
compromising shoulder  turned  in  our  direction;  nor  did  he 
open  his  mouth  to  utter  another  word  until  the  general 
discussion  later  in  the  evening.  Don  Gaspar,  who  owned 
the  only  riding  saddle,  unharnessed  his  horse,  led  it  to 
water,  knee  haltered  it,  and  turned  it  loose  to  graze.  While 
he  was  gone  no  one  spoke,  but  we  glanced  at  each  other 
darkly.  He  returned,  sat  down  by  the  fire,  rolled  himself 
a  cigaretto,  and  volunteered  his  story. 

"My  frenV'  said  he,  with  a  directness  and  succinctness 
utterly  foreign  to  his  everyday  speech,  "you  want  to  know 
what  happen \    Ver'  well;  it  was  Kke  this." 

He  told  us  that,  after  we  had  left  them,  they  hurried  on 
as  fast  as  possible  in  order  to  reach  the  settled  country. 
Owing  to  the  excellence  of  his  animal  he  was  generally  some 
distance  in  advance.  At  one  point,  stopping  on  a  slight 
elevation  to  allow  them  to  catch  up,  he  looked  back  in 
time  to  see  two  men  on  horseback  emerge  from  the  chaD- 

250 


THE     ROBBERY 

.^rral  just  behind  his  companions.  Don  Caspar  shouted 
and  leaped  from  his  saddle;  but  before  the  warning  had 
reached  the  others,  a  riata  from  the  hand  of  one  of  the 
men  had  fallen  with  deadly  accuracy  around  Yank's  arms 
and  body,  jerking  him  violently  from  the  saddle.  The 
thrower  whirled  his  horse  to  drag  his  victim,  Don  Caspar 
fired,  and  by  great  good  luck  shot  the  animal  through 
the  brain.  It  fell  in  a  heap,  pinning  its  rider  beneath  it. 
In  the  meantime  Barry  had  leaped  to  the  ground,  and  from 
behind  the  shelter  of  his  horse  had  shot  the  first  robber 
through  the  body.  Our  two  companions  now  drew  together, 
and  took  refuge  behind  some  large  rocks,  preparing  to  re- 
ceive the  charge  of  a  band  of  half  dozen  who  now  appeared. 
The  situation  looked  desperate.  Don  Caspar  fired  and 
missed.  He  was  never  anything  of  a  marksman,  and  his 
first  shot  must  have  been  a  great  piece  of  luck.  Barry 
held  his  fire.  The  robbers  each  discharged  his  rifle, 
but  harmlessly.  Then  just  as  they  seemed  about  to  charge 
in,  they  whirled  their  horses  and  made  off  into  the  brush. 
"We  could  not  tell  the  why,"  observed  Don  Caspar, 
The  two  men  did  not  speculate,  but  ran  out  to  where 
Yank  lay,  apparently  dead,  his  arms  still  bound  close  to 
his  body  by  the  noose  of  the  riata.  Barry  cut  the  rope 
with  his  bowie  knife,  and  they  rolled  him  over.  They 
found  he  still  breathed,  but  that,  beside  the  shock  of  his 
violent  fall,  he  had  been  badly  trampled  by  the  horses. 
After  a  moment  he  came  to  consciousness,  but  when  they 
attempted  to  Hft  him  upright,  they  found  that  his  leg  was 
broken. 
At  this  moment  they  heard  the  sound  of  voices,  and, 

3SI 


GOXD 

looking  up,  saw  coming  from  the  other  direction  a  band  of  a 
dozen  men,  half  of  whom  were  on  horseback,  and  all  of 
wliom  were  armed.     This  looked  serious. 

*'We  got  behind  the  rock,"  said  Don  Caspar,  "but  we 
think  to  ourself  our  goose  is  cook." 

The  newcomers,  however,  proved  to  be  miners,  who  had 
heard  the  shots,  and  who  now  came  hurrying  up.  Evi- 
dently the  robbers  had  caught  sight  or  sound  of  their  ap- 
proach. They  were  much  interested  in  the  state  of  affairs, 
examined  the  horse  Don  Caspar  had  killed,  searched  for 
and  found  the  body  of  the  robber  Barry  had  shot.  It 
proved  to  be  a  Mexican,  well  known  to  them  all,  and 
suspected  to  be  a  member  of  Andreas  Aijo's  celebrated 
band.     They  inquired  for  the  dead  horse's  rider. 

*'And  then,  for  the  first  time,"  said  Don  Caspar,  "we 
think  of  him.  He  went  down  with  his  horse.  But  now 
he  was  gone;  and  also  the  horse  of  Senor  Yank.  But  I 
think  he  crawl  off  in  the  chaparral;  and  that  the  horse  of 
Senor  Yank  run  away  with  the  other  horse  of  the  dead  man." 

And  then,  I  must  confess,  to  our  disbelief  in  the  tale, 
Don  Caspar  told  us  that  the  miners,  their  curiosity  satis- 
fied, calmly  prepared  to  return  to  their  diggings,  quite 
deaf  to  all  appeals  for  further  help. 

"They  say  to  us,"  narrated  Don  Caspar  evenly,  "that 
they  wash  much  gold,  and  that  they  cannot  ta,ke  the 
time ;  and  when  I  tell  them  our  friend  is  dying,  they  laugh, 
and  essay  that  we  ought  to  be  glad  they  come  and  essave 
our  Kves;  and  that  we  get  along  all  right." 

We  did  not  believe  this,  though  we  could  see  no  object 
in  Don  Caspar's  deceiving  us  on  the  point.    Three  months 

252 


THE    ROBBERY 

had  passed  while  we  had  been  isolated  in  the  valley  of  the 
Porcupine;  and  we  had  not  yet  been  taught  what  a  dif- 
ference three  months  can  make  in  a  young  country.  In 
that  time  thousands  had  landed,  and  the  diggings  had 
filled.  All  the  world  had  turned  to  California;  its  riffraff 
and  offscourings  as  well  as  its  true  men.  Australia  had 
unloaded  its  ex-convicts,  so  that  the  term  "Sydney  duck" 
had  become  only  too  well  known.  The  idyllic  time  of 
order  and  honesty  and  pleasant  living  with  one's  fellow- 
men  was  over.  But  we  were  unaware  of  that;  and, 
knowing  the  average  generous-hearted  miner,  we  listened 
to  Don  Caspar  with  a  certain  surprised  skepticism. 

"But  I  follow  them,"  said  Don  Caspar,  "and  I  offer 
them  to  pay;  and  after  a  while  two  of  them  come  back 
with  me,  and  we  make  a  litter  of  branches  with  many 
blanket;  and  we  carry  Senor  Yank  down  to  the  town. 
There  is  a  town  there  now.  And  by  good  chance,"  con- 
cluded Don  Caspar  with  a  Kttle  show  of  quiet  racial  pride, 
"we  find  a  California  man  and  his  wife,  and  they  do  their 
bes'  for  Senor  Yank,  who  is  very  essick,  and  I  think  he 
is  now  dead  from  the  tramp  of  the  horses.  And  we  borrow 
the  fresh  horse  and  com^  back." 

It  was  mdeed,  as  I  think  of  it,  a  wonderful  ride  in  the 
darkness;  but  at  the  time  my  mind  was  full  of  our  poor 
friend.  The  others,  however,  thought  only  of  the 
gold. 

"We  have  left,"  replied  Don  Caspar  to  the  rudely 
expressed  shower  of  questions,  "just  the  one  haff.  It  is 
well  known  to  all  that  Senor  Yank  carried  the  most  of 
the  gold." 


GOLD 

'^Yes,  and  we  have  Munroe  to  thank  for  that,"  snarled 
Missouri  Jones. 

"As  far  at  that  is  concerned,  I  was  against  sending  out 
the  gold  from  the  very  start,''  I  retorted.  *'If  you'd 
listened  to  me,  it  would  have  all  been  safe  right  here." 

"If  we'd  had  a  decently  strong  guard,  we'd  have  been 
all  right,"  growled  McNally. 

We  all  saw  the  futility  of  our  first  instinctive  flare  of 
suspicion.  It  was  obvious  that  if  Don  Caspar  and  Buck 
Barry  had  intended  treachery  they  would  never  have  re 
turned  to  us.  I  think  that,  curiously  enough,  we  were  un- 
reasonably  a  little  sorry  for  this.  It  would  have  been 
satisfactory  to  have  had  something  definite  to  antagonize. 
As  it  was,  we  sat  humped  aroimd  our  fire  until  morning. 
For  a  long  period  we  remained  sullenly  silent;  then  we 
would  break  into  recriminations  or  into  expression^  of 
bitter  or  sarcastic  dissatisfaction  with  the  way  things  had 
been  planned  and  carried  out.  Bagsby  alone  had  the 
sense  to  turn  in.  We  chewed  the  cud  of  bitter  disappoint- 
ment. Our  work  had  been  hard  and  continuous;  we  were, 
as  I  have  pointed  out,  just  ready  for  a  reaction;  and 
now  this  catastrophe  arrived  in  the  exact  moment  to 
throw  us  into  the  depths  of  genuine  revulsion.  We 
hated  each  other,  and  the  work,  and  the  valley  of  the 
Porcupine,  and  gold  diggings,  and  California  with  a  fine 
impartiaHty.  The  gray  morning  light  found  us  sitting 
haggard,  dejected,  disgusted,  and  vindictive  around  the 
dying  embers  of  our  fire. 


254 


CHAPTER  XXVin 
THE  BULLY 

With  daylight  we  began  to  get  a  grip  on  ourselves 
a  little.  I  felt  strongly  that  I  should  see  to  Yank,  and 
so  announced.  Johnny  at  once  offered  to  accompany 
me.  While  we  were  talking  over  the  future  prospects, 
McNally  came  over  to  us,  saying: 

''The  boys  are  pretty  well  agreed  that  we  ought  to 
divide  up  what  gold  is  left,  and  let  each  man  take  care 
of  iiis  own  share.     Are  you  agreeable?" 

We  instantly  assented.  The  scales  were  brought 
out,  and  the  division  began.  It  consumed  most  of  the 
morning,  and  wa3  productive  of  much  squabbling,  in 
which,  however,  we  took  no  part.  Our  share,  including 
\ank's  —  with  which  we  were  intrusted  —  came  to  about 
thirty-one  pounds:  a  value  of  about  seven  thousand  dollars. 
We  were  impatient  to  be  off,  and  now  wanted  nothing  so 
much  as  to  be  done  with  the  whole  affair.  Yank  had 
ridden  one  of  our  horses;  the  other  had  been  stolen  in  the 
Indian  raid.  We  approached  Don  Caspar,  who  had  his 
own  saddle  horse  and  that  of  Vasquez,  not  to  speak  of 
the  remaining  pack-animals.  To  our  surprise  and  delight 
he  offered  to  accompany  us;  and  Bagsby,  too,  decided 
to  leave.  McNally,  Buck  Barry,  and  Missouri  Jones, 
however,  could  not  be  persuaded  out  of  thdx  intention  of 


GOLD 

remaining  to  dig  fresh  gold;  nor,  I  am  afraid,  were  we  very 
cordial  in  our  insistence.  We  considered  them  foolhardy; 
but  in  our  then  mood  we  did  not  greatly  care. 

By  noon  we  had  packed  our  goods,  and  by  night  we 
had  broken  the  back  of  our  return  journey. 

We  found  a  full-grown  town  where  we  had  left  a  few 
tents  and  miners'  cabins.  Its  main  street  ran  either  side 
the  deep  dust  of  the  immigrant  trail,  and  consisted  of  the 
usual  shanties,  canvas  shacks,  and  log  structures,  with 
rather  more  than  the  customary  allowance  of  tin  cans, 
old  clothes,  worn-out  boots,  and  empty  barrels  kicking 
around.  The  diggings  were  in  the  gulch  below  the  road; 
but  the  streets  of  the  town,  and  especially  the  shady  sides 
of  the  buildings,  were  numerously  furnished  with  lounging 
men.  Some  of  these  were  employees  or  owners  of  the 
gambhng  halls,  saloons,  and  boarding-houses;  but  most  were 
plain  "loafers"  —  a  class  never  whoUv  absent  from  anv 
mining  camp,  men  who  washed  just  enough  gold  to  keep 
themselves  fed  and  pickled  in  drink.  Many  of  them  were 
evil-looking  customers,  in  fact  about  as  tough  a  lot  as  a 
man  would  care  to  see,  unshaven  generally,  but  not  always, 
dirty,  truculent  and  rough,  insolent  in  manner.  In  our 
passage  of  the  main  street  I  saw  just  three  decent  looking 
people  —  one  was  evidently  a  gambler,  one  a  beefy,  red- 
faced  individual  who  had  something  to  do  with  one  of  the 
hotels,  and  the  third  was  a  tall  man,  past  middle  age, 
with  a  clean  shaven,  hawk  face,  a  piercing,  haughty, 
black  eye,  and  iron  gray  hair.  He  was  carefully  and 
flawlessly  dressed  in  a  gray  furred  "plug''  hat,  tailed  blue 
coat  with  brass  buttons,  a  buff  waistcoat,  trousers  of  the 

256 


THE    BULLY 

same  shade,  and  a  frilled  shirt  front.  Immaculate  down 
to  within  six  inches  or  so  of  the  ground,  his  nether  garments 
and  boots  were  coated  thickly  with  the  inevitable  red  dust. 
He  strode  slowly  down  the  street,  looking  neither  to  right 
nor  left. 

Don  Caspar  led  the  way  for  a  short  distance  along 
the  wagon  road.  On  the  outskirts  of  the  settlement 
he  turned  aside  to  a  small  log  cabin  supplemented  by  a 
brush  lean-to.  A  long  string  of  bright  red  peppers  hung 
dovvTi  the  face  of  it.  To  our  knock  came  a  very  fat, 
rather  dirty,  but  exceedingly  pleasant-faced  v/oman  with 
glossy  black  hair,  parted  smoothly,  and  soft  black  eyes. 
She  opened  the  door  only  the  fraction  of  an  inch  at  first, 
but  instantly  recognized  Don  Gaspar,  and  threw  it  wide. 

To  our  great  reKef  we  found  Yank  very  much  alive. 
He  greeted  us  rather  feebly,  but  with  satisfaction.  We 
found  that  he  had  been  kindly  cared  for,  and  that  the 
surface  wounds  and  bruises  from  the  horses'  hoofs  had 
been  treated  with  some  skill. 

''But  I  reckon  I'm  hurt  some  inside,"  he  w^hispered 
with  difiiculty,  "for  I  can't  breathe  easy;  and  I  can't 
eat  nothin'  but  soup.    And  my  leg  is  hell." 

The  broken  leg  too  had  been  bound  up  after  a  fashion, 
but  it  was  badly  swollen  above  and  below  the  bandages. 

"He  ought  to  have  a  doctor,"  said  I  positively.  "There's 
no  doubt  of  that.  There  must  be  some  among  the  miners 
—  there  generally  is.     I'm  going  to  see  if  I  can  find  one." 

I  returned  to  town,  and  hunted  up  the  beefy,  red-faced 
hotel  keeper,  who  had  impressed  me  as  being  an  honest  man, 

"Yes,  there's  a  doctor,"  said  he,  "a  mighty  good  one. 

257 


GOLD 

He  went  by  here  a  little  while  ago.  Name's  Dr.  Rankin. 
I'll  rustle  him  out  for  you.  Oh,  you  Pete!"  he  shouted 
into  the  interior  of  the  building. 

A  moment's  shuffling  about  preceded  the  appearance 
of  a  negro  boy  of  twelve  or  fourteen. 

''Yes,  sah." 

**Go  find  Dr.  Rankin  and  bring  him  here  right  away. 
Tell  him  a  gentleman  wants  him." 

"You've  got  a  mighty  sudden  sort  of  camp  here," 
said  I,  as  we  settled  ourselves  to  wait.  "Three  months 
ago  I  went  through  here,  and  there  was  practically  nothing." 

"Looks  to  be  a  thousand  years,  though,"  agreed  the 
hotel  man.     "Where  you  been?" 

"Oh,  just  prospecting,"  I  repKed  vaguely. 

'^ Strike  it?" 

"Just  fair,"  I  evaded;  "not  rich  enough  to  keep  me 
from  coming  back,  you  see.    Any  finds  here?" 

"The  diggings  are  rich  as  mud,"  repHed  the  hotel 
man  dispassionately.     "It's  a  prosperous  camp  all  right.'' 

"You  don't  'wash'  yourself?"  I  asked. 

"Not  I!  I  make  more  than  my  Wnce  a  day'  right 
here."     He  jerked  his  thumb  at  his  hotel. 

"A  good  many  'loafers,' "  I  suggested. 

He  looked  at  me  steadily,  hesitated  for  a  moment,  then 
evidently  changed  his  mind. 

"Quite  a  few,"  he  agreed. 

At  this  m.oment  the  negro  boy  appeared,  closely  fol- 
lowed by  the  man  with  the  blue  coat  and  white  beaver  hat 
whom  I  had  taken  for  an  eccentric  gambler.  This  man 
walked  slowly  up  to  face  me. 

258 


THE     BULLY 

"Well,  sir?"  he  demanded.  '*I  am  told  I  can  be  ot 
service.    In  what  way?  " 

His  piercing  black  eye  held  mine  with  a  certain  high 
a.rrogance. 

"Professionally,  doctor,"  I  replied.  "A  friend  of  mine 
is  lying  badly  hurt  in  a  nearby  hut." 

For  a  barely  appreciable  instant  his  eye  held  mine 
after  I  had  ceased  speaking,  as  though  he  was  appraising 
me.    Then  he  bowed  with  old-fashioned  courtesy. 

"At  your  service,  sir,"  said  he.  "Pete,  you  black  rascal, 
get  my  bag,  and  get  it  quick." 

The  little  negro,  who  had  stood  by  obviously  wor- 
shipping, broke  into  a  grin  and  darted  into  the  hotel, 
almost  instantly  reappearing  with  a  regulation  professional 
satchel. 

"At  your  service,  sir,"  repeated  Dr.  Rankin. 

We  took  our  stately  progress  up  the  street,  through  the 
deep  red  dust.  The  hot  sun  glared  down  upon  us,  re- 
flecting from  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  suffocating 
heat.  Hard  as  I  was,  I  flushed  and  perspired.  The 
doctor  never  turned  a  hair.  As  we  passed  one  of  the 
saloons  a  huge,  hairy  man  lurched  out,  nearly  colliding 
with  us.  He  was  not  drunk,  but  he  was  well  flushed 
with  drink.  His  mood  was  evidently  ugly,  for  he  dropped 
his  hand  to  the  butt  of  his  revolver,  and  growled  some- 
thing truculent  at  me,  glaring  through  bloodshot  eyes. 
Dr.  Rankin,  who  had  stepped  back  to  avoid  collision, 
spoke  up: 

"Malone,"  said  he,  "I  told  you  a  week  ago  that  you 
have  to  stop  drinking  or  come  to  me.    I  repeat  it." 

259 


GOLD 

He  turned  his  keen  black  eyes  upon  the  big  man,  and 
stepped  forward.  The  big  man  muttered  something  and 
moved  aside. 

Arrived  at  the  hut  of  the  Morenas,  for  that  it  seemed 
was  the  name  of  our  host  and  hostess,  Dr.  Rankin  laid 
aside  his  furry  beaver  hat,  walked  directly  to  the  side  of 
the  bunk  on  which  Yank  lay,  and  began  his  examination, 
without  vouchsafing  anything  or  anybody  else  the  slightest 
glance.  Nor  did  he  seem  to  pay  more  attention  to  Yank  as  a 
human  being,  but  prodded  and  pulled  and  hauled  and 
manipulated  him  from  top  to  toe,  his  gray,  hawk  face 
intent  and  absorbed.  Occasionally,  as  he  repeated  some 
prod,  he  looked  up  keenly  into  Yank's  face,  probably 
for  some  slight  symptom  of  pain  that  escaped  us,  for  Yank 
remained  stoical.  But  he  asked  no  questions.  At  the 
end  of  ten  minutes  he  threw  the  blanket  over  our  friend's 
form  and  stood  erect,  carefully  dusting  the  ends  of  his 
fingers  against  one  another. 

*^ Broken  leg,  badly  set,"  said  he;  "two  broken  ribs; 
severe  surface  bruises;  and  possibility  of  internal  bruises 
in  the  region  of  the  spleen.  Neglected  too  long.  Why 
wasn't  I  sent  for  before?  " 

I  explained.  Dr.  Rankin  Hstened  attentively,  but 
made  no  comment.  His  eyes  travelled  slowly  over  us 
all  —  the  fat,  pleasant,  brown  California  woman,  her 
bearded  husband,  who  had  come  in  from  the  diggings, 
Bagsby's  tall,  wiry  old  form,  the  worn  remains  of  Don 
Caspar's  finery,  and  Hngered  a  moment  on  Johnny's  un- 
disguisable  air  of  high  spirit  and  breeding. 

"How  many  of  you  belong  here?"  he  demanded.    "I 

260 


THE     BULLY 

can^t  waste  time  on  the  rest  of  you.  Those  who  are  not 
directly  concerned,  kindly  step  outside." 

"Johnny  and  I  will  take  care  of  this/*  I  told  the  others 
hastily,  before  they  had  time  to  say  anything. 

"Now,"  cried  Dr.  Rankin,  removing  his  blue  coat, 
and  turning  back  the  frills  of  his  shirt,  "hot  water! " 

We  assisted  at  the  rather  dreadful  process  of  resetting 
a  broken  leg  three  days  old.  At  the  end  of  the  operation 
we  were  all  pretty  limp. 

"How  long?"  gasped  Yank,  opening  liis  eyes. 

"Three  months;  not  a  day  less  if  you  want  that  leg 
to  be  as  good  as  ever,"  stated  Dr.  Rankin  uncompromis- 
ingly. 

Yank  closed  his  eyes  and  groaned. 

The  doctor  resumed  his  coat  and  picked  up  his  beaver 
hat. 

"What  treatment?"  I  ventured  to  ask. 

"I  will  inform  the  woman,"  replied  the  doctor.  "These 
CaKfornians  are  the  best  nurses  in  the  world,  once  things 
are  on  a  proper  footing." 

"Your  fee,  sir?"  asked  Johnny  very  formally,  for  the 
doctor's  brusque  manner  had  rubbed. 

"One  ounce,"  stated  Dr.  Rankin.  "I  shall  direct 
the  woman,  and  I  shall  return  one  week  from  to-day  unless 
conditions  change.    In  that  case,  summon  me." 

He  pouched  the  gold  dust  that  Johnny  shook  into  the 
palm  of  his  hand  at  a  guess,  bowed  formally  to  each  of 
us  in  turn,  picked  up  his  bag  and  departed,  rigidly  erect, 
the  fine  red  dust  crawling  and  eddying  at  his  feet. 

Then  we  held  a  council  of  war,  all  of  us.    Don  Caspar 

261 


GOLD 

announced  his  intention  of  returning  to  his  rancho  in  thf» 
south. 

"I  have  found  the  gold,  and  I  have  made  fren's,  and  I 
have  now  enough/'  said  he. 

Bagsby,  too,  said  he  thought  he  would  just  ride  down 
as  far  as  Sutter's  Fort,  there  to  lay  in  a  supply  of  powder 
and  ball  for  a  trip  in  the  mountains. 

'*I  kind  of  want  to  git  up  another  b*ar  fight,"  said  he. 
"If  I  thought  there  was  a  ghost  of  a  show  to  git  them 
robbers  for  you  boys,  I'd  stay  and  help  you  scout  for  them; 
but  there  ain't  a  show  in  the  world.  They've  had  a  good 
three  days'  start." 

After  shaking  hands  with  us  again  and  again,  and 
obtaining  promises  that  we  should  all  surely  meet  in 
San  Francisco  or  Monterey,  they  mounted  and  took  their 
departure  in  order  to  get  well  clear  of  the  settlement 
before  nightfall. 

When  they  had  gone  Yank  opened  his  eyes  from  the 
apparent  sleep  into  which  he  had  fallen. 

"You  fellows  don't  hang  around  here  with  me,  I  can 
tell  you  that,"  he  stated.  "I'm  fixed  all  right.  I  want 
you  to  make  arrangements  with  these  people  yere  to  keep 
me;  tuck  my  gold  under  my  piller,  stack  old  Betsey  up 
yere  in  the  comer  by  me,  and  go  about  your  business. 
You  come  out  yere  to  dig  gold,  not  to  take  keer  of  cripples.'' 

'All  right,  Yank,  we'll  fi:x  it  somehow,"  I  agreed.  "Now 
if  you're  all  right,  Johnny  and  I  will  just  go  and  straighten 
out  our  camp  things  a  little." 

We  were  now,  it  will  be  remembered,  without  horses. 
Don   Caspar  had  unpacked  our  few  belongings  before 

262 


# 


( 


THE    BULLY 

departing.  Johnny  and  I  found  a  good  camping  place, 
then  carried  the  stuff  over  on  our  backs.  We  cooked  our- 
selves some  food,  lit  pipes,  and  sat  down  to  talk  the  situa- 
tion over. 

We  got  nowhere.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  were  both 
in  the  dead-water  of  reaction  from  hard,  long-continued 
labour,  and  we  could  not  bring  ourselves  to  face  with  any 
enthusiasm  the  resuming  of  gold  washing.  Revulsion 
shook  us  at  the  mere  thought  of  getting  down  in  a  hot, 
glaring  ravine  and  moving  heavy  earth  and  rocks.  Yet 
we  had  not  made  a  fortune,  nor  much  of  a  beginning  at  one, 
and  neither  of  us  was  what  is  known  as  a  quitter.  We 
realized  perfectly  that  we  would  go  on  gold  mining. 

"What  we  need  is  a  recess,"  Johnny  ended,  "and  I  move 
we  take  it.  Just  let's  camp  here,  and  loaf  for  a  few  days 
or  a  week,  and  see  how  Yank  gets  along,  and  then  we  can 
go  back  to  Porcupine." 

As  though  this  decision  lifted  a  great  weight,  we  sat 
back  on  our  shoulder  blades  with  a  sigh  of  rehef,  and  blew 
tobacco  smoke  straight  up  in  the  air  for  at  least  fifteen 
minutes.  By  the  end  of  that  time  we,  being  yoimg  and 
restless,  felt  thoroughly  refreshed. 

"Let's  go  look  this  outfit  over,"  suggested  Johnny. 

We  gravitated  naturally  to  the  diggings,  which  were 
very  much  like  those  at  Hangman's  Gulch,  except  that 
they  were  rather  more  extensive,  and  branched  out  more 
into  the  tributary  ravines.  The  men  working  there  were, 
many  of  them,  of  a  much  better  type  than  those  we  had 
seen  in  town;  though  even  here  was  a  large  element  of 
rough-looking,   wild,   reckless   customers.    We  wandered 

263 


GOLD 

T-bout  here  and  there,  our  hands  in  our  pockets,  a  vast 
leisure  filling  our  souls.  With  some  of  the  more  pleasant- 
appearing  miners  we  conversed.  They  told  us  that  the 
diggings  were  rich,  good  "ounce  a  day"  diggings.  We 
saw  a  good  many  cradles  in  use.  It  was  easy  to  tell  the 
old-timers  from  the  riffraff  of  newcomers.  A  great  many 
of  the  latter  seemed  to  lack  the  steadiness  of  purpose 
characteristic  of  nearly  all  the  first  rush.  They  worked 
haphazardly,  spasmodically,  pulling  and  hauling  against 
each  other.  Some  should  not  have  been  working  at  all, 
for  their  eyes  were  sunken  in  their  heads  from  illness. 

"  We've  got  to  hustle  now,"  they  told  us.  "We  can  take 
a  good  rest  when  the  rains  stop  work." 

We  noticed  especially  a  marked  change  in  demeanour 
among  some  of  the  groups-  In  the  early  part  of  the 
summer  every  man  answered  every  man  good-naturedly, 
except  he  happened  to  have  a  next  day's  head  or  some  other 
sort  of  a  personal  grouch.  Now  many  compact  little 
groups  of  men  worked  quite  apart.  When  addressed 
they  merely  scowled  or  looked  sullen,  evidently  quite 
unwilling  to  fraternize  with  the  chance-comer. 

We  loafed  about  here  and  there  through  the  diggings, 
swapping  remarks  with  the  better  disposed,  until  the  men 
began  to  knock  off  work.  Then  we  returned  through  the 
village. 

Its  street  had  begun  to  fiU.  Here,  too,  we  could  not 
but  be  struck  by  the  subtle  change  that  had  come  over 
the  spirit  of  the  people.  All  used  to  seem  like  the  members 
of  a  big  family,  good-natured  and  approachable  even  when 
strangers.    Now  a  slower  acquaintance  must  precede  fa- 

264 


THE    BULLY 

miliarity.  We  seemed  out  of  it  because  we  did  not  know 
anybody,  something  we  had  not  felt  before  in  a  mining 
camp.  There  was  no  hostiHty  in  this,  not  an  iota;  only 
now  it  had  evidently  become  necessary  to  hold  a  man  oft 
a  little  until  one  knew  something  about  him.  People 
seemed,  somehow,  watchful,  in  spite  of  the  surface  air  of 
good-nature  and  of  boisterous  spirits.  We  did  not  quite 
imderstand  this  at  the  moment,  but  we  learned  more 
about  it  later. 

We  sauntered  along  peering  into  the  various  buildings. 
The  saloons  were  here  more  elaborate  than  at  Hangman's, 
the  gambling  places  larger,  and  with  some  slight  attempt 
at  San  Francisco  splendour.  That  is  to  say,  there  were 
large  gilt-framed  mirrors  on  the  walls,  nude  pictures, 
and  in  some  cases  a  stage  for  musical  performers.  One 
of  the  three  stores  was  devoted  entirely  to  clothing  and 
"notions,"  to  us  a  new  departure  in  specialization.  We 
were  sadly  in  need  of  garments,  so  we  entered,  and  were 
^t  once  met  by  a  very  oily,  suave  specimen  of  the  chosen 
people.  When  we  had  escaped  from  this  robber's  den  we 
looked  at  each  other  in  humorous  dismay. 

"  Glad  Yank  don't  need  clothes,  anyway,"  said  Johnny. 

We  were,  it  will  be  remembered,  out  of  provisions, 
so  we  entered  also  one  of  the  general  stores  to  lay  in  a 
small  supply.  The  proprietor  proved  to  be  an  old  friend, 
Jones,  the  storekeeper  at  Hangman's. 

"Which,"  said  Johnny  shrewdly,  "is  a  sad  commentary 
on  the  decline  of  the  diggings  at  Hangman's." 

Jones  was  evidently  prosperous,  and  doing  business 
on  a  much  larger  scale  than  at  the  old  place;  for  in  his 

265 


GOLD 

commodious  building  were  quantities  of  goods  displayed 
and  many  barrels  and  boxes  still  unopened.  He  did  not 
recognize  us,  of  course;  and  we  had  to  await  the  completion 
of  a  tale  he  was  telling  a  group  perched  on  the  counters 
and  on  the  boxes. 

"Got  a  consignment  of  mixed  goods  from  Mellin," 
he  was  saying,  "and  one  of  the  barrels  wasn't  marked  with 
anything  I  could  make  out.  I  Imocked  the  top  in,  and 
chucked  her  out  behind  for  spoiled  beef.  Certainly 
stunk  like  it.  Well,  sir,  that  barrel  lay  there  for  a  good 
ten  days;  and  then  one  day  up  drifted  a  Dutchman  with  a 
brogue  on  him  thick  enough  to  plant  flag-poles  in.  'How 
mooch,'  says  he  'is  dot  stoof?'  'What  stuff?'  says  I. 
'Dot  stoof  oudt  behind.'  'I  ain't  got  no  stuff  out  behind! 
What's  eating  you?'  says  I.  Then  he  points  out  that 
spoiled  beef.  'Good  Lord!'  says  I,  'help  yourself,  i 
got  a  lot  of  nerve,  but  not  enough  to  charge  a  man  for 
anything  that  stinks  like  that  beef.  But  you  better  let 
it  alone;  you'll  get  sick!'  Well,  sir,  you  wouldn't  think 
there  was  any  Dutchmen  in  the  country,  now  would  you? 
but  they  came  to  that  stink  like  flies  to  molasses.  Any 
time  I'd  look  out  the  back  door  I'd  see  one  or  two  nosing 
around  that  old  spoiled  beef.  Then  one  day  another  old 
beer-belly  sagged  in.  '  Say,  you  got  any  more  barrels  of 
dot  sauerkraut? '  he  wants  to  know.  'That  what? '  I  asks. 
'Dot  sauerkraut,'  says  he,  'like  dot  in  the  backyard.  I 
gif  you  goot  price  for  a  whole  barrel,'  says  he.  And  here 
I'd  give  away  a  whole  barrel!  I  might've  got  a  dollar 
a  poimd  for  the  stuff.  /  don't  know  what  it  might  be 
worth  to  a  Dutchman." 

366 


THE     BULLY 

He  turned  away  to  wait  on  us. 

"And  you  wouldn't  guess  there  was  so  many  Dutchmea 
in  the  country!"  ke  repeated. 

We  paid  his  terrible  prices  for  our  few  necessities, 
and  went  out.  The  music  was  beginning  to  tune  up  from 
the  gambling  places  and  saloons.  It  reminded  us  of  our 
Italian  friend. 

"Seems  to  me  his  place  was  right  here  where  we  are," 
puzzled  Johnny.  "Hanged  if  I  don't  believe  this  is  the 
place;  only  they've  stuck  a  veranda  roof  on  it." 

We  turned  into  the  entrance  of  the  hotel,  to  find  our- 
selves in  the  well-remembered  long,  low  room  wherein 
we  had  spent  the  evening  a  few  months  before.  It  was 
now  furnished  with  a  bar,  the  flimsy  partitions  had  been 
knocked  out,  and  evidently  additions  had  been  constructed 
beyond  the  various  closed  doors.  The  most  conspicuous 
single  thing  was  a  huge  bulletin  board  occupying  one  whole 
end.  It  was  written  over  closely  with  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  names.  Several  men  were  laboriously  spelling 
them  out.  This,  we  were  given  to  imderstand,  was  a  sort 
of  register  of  the  overland  immigrants;  and  by  its  means 
many  parties  obtained  first  news  of  scattered  members. 

The  man  behind  the  bar  looked  vaguely  familiar  to  me, 
but  I  could  not  place  him. 

"Where's  the  proprietor  of  this  place?"  I  asked  him. 

He  indicated  a  short,  blowsy,  truculent-looking  in- 
dividual who  was,  at  the  moment,  staring  out  the  window. 

"There  used  to  be  an  Italian "  I  began. 

The  barkeeper  uttered  a  short  barking  laugh  as  he 
turned  to  attend  to  a  customer. 

267 


GOLD 

"He  found  the  climate  bad  for  his  heart  —and  sold 
out!"  said  he. 

On  the  wall  opposite  was  posted  a  number  of  printed 
and  written  handbills.  We  stopped  idly  to  examine 
them.  They  had  in  general  to  do  with  lost  property, 
stolen  horses,  and  rewards  for  the  apprehension  of  various 
individuals.  One  struck  us  in  particular.  It  was  issued 
by  a  citizens'  committee  of  San  Francisco,  and  announced 
a  general  reward  for  the  capture  of  any  member  of  the 
^^  Hounds." 

"Looks  as  if  they'd  got  tired  of  that  gang  down  there," 
Johnny  observed.  "They  were  ruling  the  roost  when  we 
left.  Do  you  know,  I  saw  one  of  those  fellows  this  after- 
noon —  perhaps  you  remember  him  —  a  man  with  a  queer 
sort  of  blue  scar  over  one  cheekbone.  I  swear  I  saw  him 
in  San  Francisco.  There's  our  chance  to  make  so^e 
money,  Jim." 

The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  turned  to  look  at  Johnny 
curiously,  and  several  of  the  loafers  drmking  at  the  bar 
glanced  in  the  direction  of  his  clear  young  voice.  We 
went  on  reading  and  enjoying  the  notices,  some  of  which 
were  very  quaint.  Suddenly  the  door  burst  open  to  admit 
a  big  man  foUow^ed  closely  by  a  motley  rabble.  The 
leader  was  a  red-faced,  burly,  whiskered  individual,  with 
a  red  beard  and  matted  hair.  As  he  turned  I  saw  a  star- 
shaped  blue  scar  above  his  cheekbone. 

"Where's  the that  is  going  to  make  some 

money  out  of  arresting  me?"  he  roared,  swinging  his  huge 
form  ostentatiously  toward  the  centre  of  the  room. 

I  confessed  I  was  aghast,  and  completely  at  a  loss. 

268 


THE     BULLY 

A  row  was  evidently  unavoidable,  and  the  odds  were 
against  us.  Almost  at  the  instant  the  door  came  open, 
Johnny,  without  waiting  for  hostile  demonstration,  jerked 
his  Colt's  revolvers  from  their  holsters.  With  one  bound 
he  reached  the  centre  of  the  room,  and  thrust  the  muzzles 
beneath  the  bully's  nose.    His  black  eyes  were  snapping. 

"Shut  up,  you  hound!"  he  said  in  a  low,  even  voice. 
"I  wouldn't  condescend  to  make  money  out  of  your  miser- 
able carcass,  except  at  a  glue  factory.  And  if  you  or  your 
friends  so  much  as  wink  an  eyeHd,  I'll  put  you  in  shape 
for  it." 

Caught  absolutely  by  surprise,  the  "Hound"  stared 
fascinated  into  the  pistol  barrels,  his  jaw  dropped,  his 
face  redder  than  ever,  his  eyes  ridiculously  protruding. 
I  had  recovered  my  wits  and  had  backed  against  the  bul- 
letin board,  a  revolver  in  either  hand,  keeping  an  eye 
on  the  general  company.  Those  who  had  burst  in  with  the 
bully  had  stopped  frozen  in  their  tracks.  The  others 
were  interested,  but  not  particularly  excited. 

"I'm  going  to  stay  in  this  camp,"  Johnny  advised 
crisply,  "and  I'm  not  going  to  be  bothered  by  big  bluffs 
like  you.  I  warn  you,  and  all  like  you,  to  let  me  alone 
and  keep  away  from  me.  You  stay  in  camp,  or  you 
can  leave  camp,  just  as  you  please,  but  I  warn  you  that 
I  shoot  you  next  time  I  lay  eyes  on  you.  Now,  about 
face!    March!" 

Johnny's  voice  had  an  edge  of  steel.  The  big  man  obeyed 
orders  implicitly.  He  turned  slowly,  and  sneaked  out  the 
door.  His  followers  shambled  toward  the  bar.  Johnny 
passed  them  rather  contemptuously  imder  the  review  of 

269 


GOLD 

his  snapping  eyes,  and  they  shambled  a  trifle  faster.  Then, 
•'ith  elaborate  nonchalance,  we  sauntered  out. 

''My  Lord,  Johnny!"  I  cried  when  we  had  reached  the 
street,  ^*  that  was  fine !    I  didn't  know  you  had  it  in  you ! " 

"Damn  the  luck!"  he  cried,  kicking  a  tin  can.  "Oh, 
damn!^'' 

He  muttered  to  himself  a  moment,  then  turned  to  me 
with  humorous  despair. 

"What  a  stupid,  useless  mess!"  he  cried.  "The  minute 
that  fellow  came  into  the  room  I  saw  we  were  let  in  for 
a  row;  so  I  went  at  it  quick  before  he  had  got  organized. 
He  didn't  expect  that.  He  thought  he'd  have  to  work  us 
into  it." 

" It  certainly  got  him,"  said  I. 

"But  it  just  starts  us  all  wrong  here,"  complained 
Johnny.     "We  are  marked  men." 

"We'll  just  have  to  look  out  for  him  a  little.  I  don't 
believe  he's  really  dangerous.  He  looks  to  me  a  lot  like 
a  bluffer." 

"Oh,  him!"  said  Johnny  contemputously,  "he  doesn't 
worry  me  any.  It's  all  the  rest  of  them.  I've  prac- 
tically challenged  all  the  hard  cases  in  camp,  don't  you 
see?  I'm  no  longer  an  inconspicuous  newcomer.  Every 
tough  character  with  any  real  nerve  will  want  to  tackle 
me  now,  just  to  try  me  out." 

From  the  impulsive  and  unanalytical  Johnny  this  was 
surprising  enough,  and  my  face  must  have  showed  it. 

"I've  seen  it  worked  out  in  my  part  of  the  country," 
he  explained  sombrely.  "I  don't  want  to  bother  with 
that  sort  of  thing.    I'm  a  peaceable  citizen.    Now  I've 

270 


THE    BULLY 

got  to  walk  around  on  tiptoe  all  the  time  watching  for 
trouble.     Oh,  damn! " 

"If  you're  afraid "  I  began. 

"I'm  not  afraid,"  said  Johnny  so  simply  that  I  believed 
him  at  once.  "But  I'm  annoyed.  And  of  course  you 
recognized  that  barkeeper." 

"I  thought  I'd  seen  him  before,  but  I  don't  remember 
just  where." 

"He's  one  of  those  fellows  we  fired  out  of  our  canoe 
down  at  Chagres.    You  can  bet  he  doesn't  love  us  any ! " 

"You  move  along  to  Porcupine  to-morrow,"  I  suggested. 
"I  can  look  after  Yank  all  right.    They  won't  bother  me." 

Johnny  walked  for  some  steps  in  silence. 

"No,  they  won't  bother  you,"  he  repeated  slowly. 

He  thought  for  a  moment,  then  he  threw  back  his 
head.  "But  look  here,  Jim,"  he  said  briskly,  "you  forget. 
I  told  that  feUow  and  his  friends  that  I  was  going  to 
live  in  this  place.    I  can't  leave  now." 

'  ^  Nonsense, ' '  said  I.     ' '  What  do  you  care  for  that  gang ?'  * 

"It  would  look  like  running  away.  No,  I  certainly 
don't  intend  to  leave  now." 


271 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
THE  CHALLENGE 

We  went  out  to  see  Yank,  with  the  full  intention  of 
spending  the  evening  and  cheering  him  up.  He  was 
dozing,  restless,  waking  and  sleeping  by  fits  and  starts. 
We  sat  around  in  the  awkward  fashion  peculiar  to  very 
young  boys  in  the  sickroom;  and  then,  to  our  vast  relief, 
were  shoved  out  by  Seiiora  Morena.  With  her  we  held 
a  whispered  conversation  outside,  and  completed  satis- 
factory arrangements  for  Yank's  keep.  She  was  a  chuck- 
ling, easy-going,  motherly  sort  of  creature,  and  we  were 
very  lucky  to  have  her.  Then  we  returned  in  the  gathering 
duski  to  our  camp  under  the  trees  across  the  way. 

A  man  rose  from  a  seat  against  a  tree  trunk. 

^^Good  evenin',  stranger,"  said  he. 

"  Good  evening,"  responded  Johnny  guardedly. 

"You  are  the  man  who  stuck  up  Scar-face  Charley 
In  Morton's  place,  ain't  you?  " 

"What's  that  to  you?"  repKed  Johnny.  "Are  you 
a  friend  of  his?" 

His  habitual  air  of  young  carelessness  had  fallen  from 
him;  his  eye  was  steady  and  frosty,  his  face  set  in  stern 
lines.  Before  my  wondering  eyes  he  had  grown  ten  years 
older  in  the  last  six  hours.  The  other  was  lounging  toward 
us  —  a  short,  slight  man,  with  flaxen  moustache  and  eye- 

272 


THE     CHALLENGE 

brows,  a  colourless  face,  pale  blue  eyes,  and  a  bald  fore- 
head from  which  the  hat  had  been  pushed  back.  He  was 
chewing  a  straw. 

"Well,  I  was  just  inquirin'  in  a  friendly  sort  of  way," 
replied  the  newcomer  peaceably. 

*^I  don't  know  you,"  stated  Johnny  shortly,  "nor 
who  you're  friends  to,  nor  your  camp.  I  deny  your  right 
to  ask  questions.    Good  night." 

"Well,  good  night,"  agreed  the  other,  still  peaceable. 
"I  reckon  I  gather  considerable  about  you,  anyhow."  He 
turned  away.  "I  had  a  notion  from  what  I  heard  that 
you  was  sort  of  picked  on,  and  I  dropped  roxmd,  sort  of 
friendly  like;  but  Lord  love  you!  I  don't  care  how  many 
of  you  desperadoes  kill  each  other.  Go  to  it,  and  good 
riddance!"  He  cast  his  pale  blue  eyes  on  Johnny's  rigid 
figure.    "Also,  go  to  hell!"  he  remarked  dispassionately. 

Johnny  stared  at  him  puzzled. 

"Hold  on!"  he  called,  after  a  moment.  "Then  you're 
not  a  friend  of  this  Hound?  " 

The  stranger  turned  in  slow  surprise. 

"Me?  What  are  you  talking  about?"  He  looked  from 
one  to  the  other  of  us,  then  returned  the  few  steps  he  had 
taken.  "I  believe  you  don't  know  me.  I'm  Randall, 
Danny  Randall." 

' '  Yes  ? ' '  puzzled  Johnny. 

"Of  Sonoma,"  added  Randall. 

"I  suppose  I  should  know  you,  but  I'm  afraid  I  don't," 
confessed  Johnny. 

Randall  turned  back  to  the  tree  beneath  which  lay 
our  effects. 

273 


GOLD 

"I  believe  I'll  just  have  a  cup  of  coffee  with  you  boys/^ 
said  he. 

We  blew  up  the  fire,  scoured  the  frying  pan,  made 
ourselves  food.  Randall  brought  a  pail  of  water.  We 
all  ate  together,  without  much  conversation;  then  lit  our 
pipes  and  piled  on  dry  wood  to  make  a  brighter  friendship 
fire. 

"Now,  boys,"  said  Randall,  "I'm  going  to  ask  you 
some  questions;  and  you  can  answer  me  or  not,  just  as  you 
please.     Only  I'll  say,  it  isn't  just  curiosity." 

Johnny,  who  was  studying  him  covertly  from  beneath 
the  shadow  of  his  hat,  nodded  briefly,  but  said  nothing. 

"How  long  have  you  been  in  the  mines?  " 

"Since  March." 

"Since  March!"   echoed  Randall,   as  though  a  little 

bewildered  at  this  reply.     "Yet  you  never  heard 

What  camp?" 

Johnny  studied  a  while. 

"Hangman's  Gulch  for  six  weeks,"  said  he.  "Then 
just  prospecting." 

"Where?" 

"I  don't  beHeve  I'll  answer  that  question,"  replied 
Johnny  slowly. 

"But  somewhere  back  in  the  hills?"  persisted  Randall. 

"Somewhere  back  in  the  hills,"  agreed  Johnny. 

"Seems  to  me "  I  broke  in,  but  Johnny  silenced  me 

with  a  gesture.  He  was  watching  Randall  intently,  and 
thinking  hard. 

"Then  you  have  been  out  of  it  for  three  months  or  so. 
That  explains  it.    Now  I  don't  mind  telling  you  I  came 

274 


THE     QHALLENGE 

up  here  this  evening  to  size  you  up.  I  heard  about  your 
row  with  Scar-face  Charley,  and  I  wanted  to  see  whether 
you  were  just  another  fighting  desperado  or  an  honest  man. 
Well,  I'm  satisfied.  I'm  not  going  to  ask  you  if  you 
have  much  gold  with  you,  for  you  wouldn't  tell  me;  but 
if  you  have,  keep  it  with  you.  If  you  don't,  you'll  lose 
it.  Keep  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  out  of  dark  places. 
This  is  a  tough  camp;  but  there  are  a  lot  of  us  good  men, 
too,  and  my  business  is  to  get  us  all  to  know  each  other. 
Things  are  getting  bad,  and  we've  got  to  get  together. 
That's  why  I  came  up  to  see  you.  Are  you  handy  with  a 
gun?  "  he  asked  abruptly. 

"Fair,"  said  Johnny. 

''You  need  to  be.  Let's  see  if  you  are.  Stand  up.  Try 
to  get  the  draw  on  me.     New ! " 

Johnny  reached  for  his  pistol,  but  before  his  hand  was 
fairly  on  the  butt,  Randall  had  thrust  the  muzzle  of  a 
^mall  revolver  beneath  his  nose.  His  pale  blue  eyes  had 
lit  with  concentration,  his  bleached  eyebrows  were  drawn 
together.  For  an  instant  the  thought  flashed  across  my 
mind  that  this  was  a  genuine  hold-up;  and  I  am  sure 
Johnny  caught  the  same  suspicion,  for  his  figure  stiffened. 
Then  Randall  dropped  his  hand. 

"Very  pretty,"  said  Johnny  coolly.  "How  did  you  do 
that?    I  didn't  catch  your  motion." 

"From  the  sleeve,"  said  Randall.  "It's  difficult,  but 
it's  pretty,  as  you  say;  and  if  you  learn  to  draw  from  the 
sleeve,  I'll  guarantee  you'll  get  the  draw  on  your  man 
€very  time." 

"Show  me,"  said  Johnny  simply. 

275 


GOLD 

"That  gun  of  yours  is  too  big;  it's  a  holster  weapon. 
Here,  take  this/' 

He  handed  Johnny  a  beautifully  balanced  small  Colt's 
revolver,  engraved,  silver-plated,  with  poKshed  rosewood 
handles.  This  he  showed  Johnny  how  to  stow  away  in  the 
sleeve,  how  to  arrange  it,  how  to  grasp  it,  and  the  exact 
motion  in  snatching  it  away. 

"It  takes  practice,  lots  of  it,  and  then  more  of  it,"  said 
Randall.  "It's  worse  than  useless  unless  you  get  it  just 
right.  If  you  made  a  mistake  at  the  wrong  time,  the 
other  man  would  get  you  sure." 

"AVhere  can  I  get  one  of  these?  "  asked  Johnny. 

"Good!"  Randall  approved  his  decision.  "You  see  the 
necessity.  You  can't.  But  a  derringer  is  about  as  good, 
and  Jones  has  them  for  sale.  Now  as  for  your  holster  gun : 
the  whole  trick  of  qmck  drawing  is  to  throw  your  right 
shoulder  forward  and  drag  the  gim  from  the  holster  with  one 
forward  sweep.  Don't  lift  it  up  and  out.  This  way!"  He 
snapped  his  hand  past  his  hip  and  brought  it  away  armed. 

"Pretty,"  repeated  Johnny. 

"Don't  waste  much  powder  and  ball  shooting  at  a  mark," 
advised  Randall.  "It  looks  nice  to  cut  out  the  ace  of  hearts 
at  ten  yards,  but  it  doesn't  mean  much.  If  you  can  shoot 
at  all,  you  can  shoot  straight  enough  to  hit  a  man  at  close 
range.  Practise  the  draw."  He  turned  to  me.  "You'd 
better  practise,  too.  Every  man's  got  to  take  care  of  him- 
self these  days.  But  you're  not  due  for  trouble  same  as 
your  friend  is." 

"I'm  obliged  to  you,"  said  Johnny. 

"You  are  not.     Now  it's  up  to  you.    I  judged  you 

276 


THE     CHALLENGE 

didn't  know  conditions  here,  and  I  thought  it  only  right 
to  warn  you.  There's  lots  of  good  fellows  in  this  camp; 
and  some  of  the  hard  cases  are  a  pretty  good  sort.  Just 
keep  organized,  that's  all." 

"Now  I  wonder  who  Danny  Randall  is!"  speculated 
Johnny  after  our  visitor  had  departed.  "He  talked  as 
though  we  ought  to  know  all  about  it.  I'm  going  to  find 
out  the  first  fellow  I  get  acquainted  with." 

Next  morning  we  asked  the  Morenas  who  was  Danny 
Randall. 

''El  diaholo,''  repKed  Morena  shortly;  and  trudged  ob- 
stinately away  to  his  work  without  vouchsafing  further 
information. 

"Which  is  interesting,  but  indefinite,"  said  Johnny. 

We  found  Yank  easier  in  body,  and  embarked  on  the  sea 
of  patience  in  which  he  was  to  float  becalmed  until  his  time 
was  up.  In  reply  to  his  inquiries  as  to  our  plans,  we  told 
him  we  were  resting  a  few  days,  which  was  the  truth.  Then 
Vie  went  up  to  town  and  made  two  purchases;  a  small  tent, 
and  a  derringer  pistol.  They  cost  us  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  It  was  the  quiet  time  of  day;  the  miners  had 
gone  to  work,  and  most  of  the  gentlemen  of  leisure  were 
not  yet  about.  Nevertheless  a  dozen  or  so  sat  against  the 
walls,  smoking  paper  cigarettos.  They  all  looked  at  us 
curiously;  and  several  nodded  at  Johnny  in  a  brief,  tenta- 
tive sort  of  fashion. 

The  rest  of  the  day,  and  of  several  days  following,  we 
spent  in  putting  up  our  tent,  ditching  it,  arranging  our 
cooking  affairs,  building  rough  seats,  and  generally  making 
cirselves  comfortable.     We  stretched  these  things  to  cover 

277 


y 


GOLD 

as  long  a  space  of  time  as  possible,  for  we  secretly  dreaded 
tacing  the  resumption  of  the  old  grind,  and  postponed  it  as 
long  as  we  could.  A  good  deal  of  the  time  we  spent  at 
Yank's  bedside,  generally  sitting  silent  and  constrained,  to 
the  mutual  discomfort  of  all  three  of  us,  I  am  sure.  At  odd 
intervals  we  practised  conscientiously  and  solemnly  at  the 
*'draw."  We  would  stand  facing  each  other,  the  nipples 
of  our  revolvers  uncapped,  and  would,  at  the  given  word, 
see  who  could  cover  the  other  first.  We  took  turns  at 
giving  the  word.  At  first  we  were  not  far  apart;  but  Johnny 
quickly  passed  me  in  skill.  I  am  always  somewhat  clumsy, 
but  my  friend  was  naturally  quick  and  keen  at  all  games  of 
skill  or  dexterity.  He  was  the  sort  of  man  who  could  bowl, 
or  play  pool,  or  billiards,  or  anything  else  rather  better  than 
the  average  accustomed  player  the  first  time  he  tried.  He 
turned  card  tricks  deftly.  At  the  end  of  our  three  days' 
loafing  he  caught  me  at  the  end  of  his  pistol  so  regularly 
that  tliere  ceased  to  be  any  contest  in  it.  I  never  did 
get  the  sleeve  trick;  but  then,  I  never  succeeded  in 
tooling  the  merest  infant  with  any  of  my  attempts  at 
legerdemain.  Johnny  could  flip  that  little  derringer  out 
with  a  twist  of  his  supple  wrist  as  neatly  as  a  snake 
darts  its  forked  tongue.  For  ten  minutes  at  a  time  he 
practised  it,  over  and  over,  as  regularly  as  well-oiled 
machinery. 

*'But  that  proves  nothing  as  to  how  it  would  work  out  in 
real  action,"  said  Johnny  thoughtfully. 

The  afternoon  of  the  third  day,  while  we  were  resting 
from  the  heat  beneath  the  shade  of  our  tree,  we  were  ap- 
proached by  three  men. 

278 


THE     CHALLENGE 

"Howdy,  boys,"  said  the  first.  "We  hain't  seen  you 
around  camp  lately,  and  thought  mebbe  you'd  flew." 

"We  are  still  here,"  replied  Johnny  with  smooth  polite- 
ness. "As  you  see,  we  have  been  fixing  our  quarters  to 
stay  here." 

"Scar-face  Charley  is  here,  too,"  observed  the  spokesman, 
"and  he  wanted  me  to  tell  you  that  he  is  going  to  be  at  the 
Bella  Union  at  eight  this  evening  and  he  wants  to  know,  will 
he  see  you?  and  to  come  heeled." 

"Thank  you,  gentlemen,"  replied  Johnny  quietly.  "If 
by  accident  you  should  happen  to  see  the  desperado  in 
question  —  who,  I  assume,  can  be  in  no  way  your  friend  — 
J  hope  you  will  tell  him  that  I,  too,  will  be  at  the  Bella 
Union  at  eight  o'clock,  and  that  I  will  come  heeled." 

"You'll  be  comin'  alone?"  said  the  man,  "or  p'rhaps 
yore  friend " 

"My  friend,  as  you  call  him,  is  simply  a  miner,  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  this,"  interrupted  Johnny  emphatically. 

"I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  the  spokesman,  rising. 

The  other  two,  who  had  throughout  said  no  word,  followed 
his  example. 

"Do  you  know  Danny  Randall?"  asked  Johnny  as  they 
moved  off. 

If  he  had  presented  his  derringer  imder  their  noses,  they 
could  not  have  stopped  more  suddenly.  They  stared  at 
each  other  a  moment. 

"Is  he  a  friend  of  yours?"  inquired  the  spokesman  after 
an  uncertain  moment. 

"He  likes  fair  play,"  said  Johnny  enigmatically. 

The  trio  moved  off  in  the  direction  of  town. 

279 


GOLD 

"We  don't  know  any  more  about  Danny  Rancrail  than 
we  did/'  observed  Johnny,  "but  I  tried  a  shot  in  the  dark." 

"Nevertheless,"  I  told  him,  "I'm  going  to  be  there; 
and  you  want  to  make  up  your  mind  to  just  that." 

"You  mil  come,  of  course,"  agreed  Johnny.  "I  suppose 
I  cannot  keep  you  from  that.  But  Jim,"  he  commanded 
earnestly,  "you  must  swear  to  keep  out  of  the  row,  unless 
it  develops  into  a  general  one;  and  you  must  swear  not 
to  speak  to  me  or  make  any  sign  no  matter  what  happens. 
I  must  play  a  lone  hand." 

He  was  firm  on  this  point;  and  in  the  end  I  gave  my 
promise,  to  his  evident  rehef . 

"This  is  our  visitors'  day,  evidently,"  he  observed. 
"Here  come  two  more  men.  One  of  them  is  the  doctor; 
I'd  know  that  hat  two  miles." 

"The  other  is  our  friend  Danny  Randall,"  said  I. 

Dr.  Rankin  greeted  us  with  a  cordiaHty  I  had  not  sus- 
pected in  him.  Randall  nodded  in  his  usual  diffident 
fashion,  and  slid  into  the  oak  shadow,  where  he  squatted 
on  his  heels. 

"About  this  Scar-face  Charley,"  he  said  abruptly,  "I 
hear  he's  issued  his  defi,  and  youVe  taken  him  up.  Do 
you  know  anything  about  this  sort  of  thing?  " 

"Not  a  bit,"  admitted  Johnny  frankly.  "Is  it  a  duel; 
and  are  you  gentleman  here  to  act  as  my  seconds?" 

"It  is  not,"  stated  the  dowTiright  doctor.  "It's  a  bar- 
room murder  and  you  cannot  get  around  it;  and  I,  for  one, 
don't  try.  But  now  you're  in  for  it,  and  you've  got  to  g6 
through  with  it." 

"  I  intend  to,"  said  Johnny. 

280 


THE     CHALLENGE 

'^It's  not  precisely  that,"  objected  Danny  Randall, 
''for,  d  Ve  see,  he's  sent  you  warning." 

*'It's  about  all  the  warning  you'll  get!"  snorted  the  doc- 
tor. 

"There's  a  sort  of  rule  about  it,"  persisted  Randall. 
"And  that's  what  I'm  here  to  tell  you.  He'll  try  to  come 
up  on  you  suddenly,  probably  from  behind;  and  he'll  say 
'draw  and  defend  yourself,'  and  shoot  you  as  soon  after 
that  as  he  can.    You  want  to  see  him  first,  that's  all." 

"Thanks,"  said  Johnny. 

"And,"  exploded  the  doctor,  "if  you  don't  kill  that 
fellow,  by  the  Eternal,  when  you  get  a  chance " 

"You'll  give  him  a  pill,  Doctor,"  interrupted  Randall^ 
with  a  little  chuckle.  "But  look  here,"  he  said  to  Johnny r 
"after  all,  this  sort  of  a  mess  isn't  required  of  you.  You 
say  the  word  and  I'll  take  on  this  Scar-face  Charley  and 
run  him  out  of  town.    He's  a  good  deal  of  a  pest." 

"Thank you,"  said  Johnny  stiffly;  "I  intend  to  paddle 
my  own  canoe." 

Randall  nodded. 

"I  don't  know  as  we  can  help  you  any  more,"  said  he. 
"I  just  thought  you  ought  to  be  on  to  the  way  it's  done." 

"I'm  obliged  to  you,"  said  Johnny  warmly.  "The  only 
doubt  in  my  mind  was  when  I  was  privileged  to  open." 

"I'd  pot  him  through  the  window  with  a  shotgun  first 
chance  I  got,"  stated  the  doctor;  "that  sort  of  a  ruffian 
is  just  like  a  mad  dog." 

"Of  course  you  would.  Doctor,"  said  Randall  with  just 
the  faintest  suspicion  of  sarcasm  in  his  voice.  "WeU^ 
I  guess  we'll  be  toddling." 


GOLD 

But  I  wanted  some  inf  onnation,  and  I  meant  to  have  it. 

''Who  is  this  Scar-face  Charley,"  I  asked. 

"Got  me,"  replied  Randall;  "you  fellows  seemed  to  rec- 
ognize him.     Only  he's  one  of  the  gang,  undoubtedly." 

"The  gang?" 

"Oh,  the  general  run  of  hangers-on.  Nobody  knows  how 
they  live,  but  every  one  suspects.  Some  of  them  work,  but 
not  many.  There  are  a  heap  of  disappearances  that  no  one 
knows  anything  about;  and  every  once  in  a  while  a  man  is 
found  drowned  and  fLoaiting;  floating  mind  you!" 

"What  of  that?"  I  asked ;  "drowned  bodies  usually  float." 

"There's  no  miner  in  these  diggings  but  has  gold  enough 
in  his  belt  to  sink  him.  If  a  man  floats,  he's  been  robbed, 
and  you  can  tie  to  that  reasoning.  And  the  fellows  are 
all  well  mounted,  and  given  to  mysterious  disappearances." 

"In  other  words,"  broke  in  the  doctor,  "they  are  an 
organized  band  of  cut-throats  and  highway  robbers  making 
this  honest  camp  a  headquarters." 

"Pshaw,  Doctor,"  said  Randall,  "that's  by  no  means 
certain." 

"It's  certain  enough,"  insisted  the  doctor. 

"I  should  think  the  miners  would  drive  them  out,"  I  said^ 

"Drive  them  out!"  cried  the  doctor  bitterly;  "they're 
too  busy,  and  their  own  toes  haven't  been  trodden  on,  and 
they're  too  willing  to  let  well  enough  alone  so  as  not  to  be 
interrupted  in  their  confounded  digging  for  gold." 

"They're  not  organized  and  they  are  quite  justly  unwill- 
ing to  get  in  a  row  with  that  gang  when  they  know  they'd 
be  killed,"  stated  Randall  quietly.  "They're  getting  on 
'well  enough,'  and  they'll  continue  to  be  run  by  this  lot 

282 


THE     CHALLENGE 

of  desperadoes  until  something  desperate  happens.  They 
want  to  be  let  alone,'' 

The  doctor  recovered  his  equanimity  with  an  effort. 

"They  present  the  curious  spectacle,"  said  he  thought- 
fully, "of  the  individual  man  in  a  new  imtrammelled  liberty 
trying  to  escape  his  moral  obligations  to  society.  He 
escapes  them  for  a  while,  but  they  are  there;  and  in  the 
end  he  must  pay  in  violence." 

Randall  laughed  and  arose. 

"If  the  doctor  is  going  to  begin  that  sort  of  thing,  I'm 
going,"  said  he. 

Our  visitors  took  their  departure. 

"Oh,  Doctor,  one  moment!"  I  called;  then,  as  he  re- 
turned.    "Tell  me,  who  and  what  is  Danny  Randall?  " 

"Danny  Randall,"  said  the  doctor,  a  humorous  twinkle 
coming  into  his  eyes,  "is  a  gentleman  of  fortune." 

"And  now  we  know  a  lot  more  than  we  did  before!" 
said  pohnny,  as  we  watched  the  receding  figures. 


283 


CHAPTER  XXX 
THE  FIGHT 

We  ate  a  very  silent  supper,  washed  our  dishes  methodi- 
cally, and  walked  up  to  town.  The  Bella  Union  was  the 
largest  of  the  three  gambling  houses  —  a  log  and  canvas 
structure  some  forty  feet  long  by  perhaps  twenty  wide. 
A  bar  extended  across  one  end,  and  the  gaming  tables 
were  arranged  down  the  middle.  A  dozen  oil  lamps  with 
reflectors  furnished  illumination. 

All  five  tables  were  doing  a  brisk  business;  when  we 
paused  at  the  door  for  a  preliminary  survey,  the  bar  was 
lined  with  drinkers,  and  groups  of  twos  and  threes  were 
slowly  sauntering  here  and  there  or  conversing  at  the  tops 
of  their  voices  with  many  guffaws.  The  air  was  thick 
with  tobacco  smoke.  Johnny  stepped  just  inside  the  door, 
moved  sideways,  and  so  stood  with  his  back  to  the  wall. 
His  keen  eyes  went  from  group  to  group  slowly,  resting 
for  a  moment  in  turn  on  each  of  the  five  impassive  gam- 
blers and  their  lookouts,  on  the  two  barkeepers,  and  then 
one  by  one  on  the  men  with  whom  the  place  was  crowded. 
Following  his,  my  glance  recognized  at  a  corner  of  the 
bar  Danny  Randall  with  five  rough-looking  miners.  He 
caught  my  eye  and  nodded.  No  one  else  appeared  to 
notice  us,  though  I  imagined  the  noise  of  the  place  sank 
and  rose  again  at  the  first  moment  of  our  entrance. 

284 


THE    FIGHT 

"Jim,"  said  Johnny  to  me  quietly,  "there's  Danny 
Randall  at  the  other  end  of  the  room.  Go  join  him. 
I  want  you  to  leave  me  to  play  my  own  game." 

I  started  to  object. 

"Please  do  as  I  say,"  insisted  Johnny.  "I  can  take 
care  of  myself  imless  there's  a  general  row.  In  that  case 
all  my  friends  are  better  together." 

Without  further  protest  I  left  him,  and  edged  my  way 
to  the  Httle  group  at  the  end  of  the  bar.  Randall  nodded 
to  me  as  I  came  up,  and  motioned  to  the  barkeeper  to 
set  me  out  a  glass,  but  said  nothing.  Ours  was  the  only 
lot  away  from  the  gaming  tables  not  talking.  We  sipped 
our  drink  and  watched  Johnny. 

After  surveying  coolly  the  room,  Johnny  advanced 
to  the  farther  of  the  gambHng  tables,  and  began  to  play. 
His  back  was  toward  the  entrance.  The  game  was  roulette, 
and  Johnny  tossed  down  his  bets  methodically,  studying 
with  apparent  absorption  each  shift  of  the  wheel.  To  all 
appearance  he  was  intent  on  the  game,  and  nothing  else; 
and  he  talked  and  laughed  with  his  neighbours  and  the 
dealer  as  though  his  spirit  were  quite  carefree. 

For  ten  minutes  we  watched.  Then  a  huge  figure 
appeared  in  the  blackness  of  the  doorway,  slipped  through, 
and  instantly  to  one  side,  so  that  his  back  was  to  the  wall. 
Scar-face  Charley  had  arrived. 

He  surveyed  the  place  as  we  had  done,  almost  instantly 
caught  sight  of  Johnny,  and  immediately  began  to  make 
his  way  across  the  room  through  the  crowds  of  loungers. 
Johnny  was  laying  a  bet,  bending  over  the  table,  joking 
with  the  impassive  dealer,  his  back  turned  to  the  door, 

285 


GOLD 

totally  oblivious  of  his  enemy's  approach.  I  started 
forward,  instantly  realized  the  hopelessness  of  either 
getting  quickly  through  that  crowd  or  of  making  myself 
heard,  and  leaned  back,  clutching  the  rail  with  both  hands. 
Johnny  was  hesitating,  his  hand  hovering  uncertainly 
above  the  marked  squares  of  the  layout,  in  doubt  exactly 
where  to  bet.  Scar-face  Charley  shouldered  his  way 
through  the  loungers  and  reached  the  clear  space  immed- 
iately behind  his  unconscious  victim.  He  stopped  for  an 
instant,  squared  his  shoulders,  and  took  one  step  forward. 
Johnny  dropped  his  chips  on  the  felt  layout,  contemplated 
his  choice  an  instant  —  and  suddenly  whirled  on  his  heel 
in  a  lightning  about-face. 

Although  momentarily  startled  by  this  imexpected 
evidence  that  Johnny  was  not  so  far  off  guard  as  he  had 
seemed,  the  desperado's  hand  dropped  swiftly  to  the  butt 
of  his  pistol.  At  the  same  instant  Johnny's  arm  snapped 
forward  in  the  familiar  motion  of  drawing  from  the  sleeve. 
The  motion  started  clean  and  smooth,  but  half  through, 
caught,  dragged,  halted.  I  gasped  aloud,  but  had  time 
for  no  more  than  that;  Scar-face  Charley's  revolver  was 
already  on  the  leap.  Then  at  last  Johnny's  derringer 
appeared,  apparently  as  the  result  of  a  desperate  effort. 
Almost  with  the  motion,  it  barked,  and  the  big  man  whirled 
to  the  floor,  his  pistol,  already  at  half  raise,  clattering 
away.  The  whole  episode  from  the  beginning  occupied  the 
space  of  two  eye-winks.  Probably  no  one  but  myself  and 
Danny  Randall  could  have  caught  the  sHght  hitch  in 
Johnny's  draw;  and  indeed  I  doubt  if  anybody  saw  whence 
ke  had  snatched  the  derringer. 

286 


''the  big  man  whirled  to  the  TLOOIl" 


THE     FIGHT 

A  complete  silence  fell.  It  could  have  lasted  only 
an  instant;  but  Johnny  seized  that  instant. 

''Has  this  man  any  friends  here?"  he  asked  clearly. 

His  head  was  back,  and  his  snapping  black  eyes  seemed 
to  see  everywhere  at  once. 

No  one  answered  or  stirred.  Johnny  held  them  for 
perhaps  ten  seconds,  then  deliberately  turned  back  to  the 
table. 

"That's  my  bet  on  the  ez^ew,"  said  he.     "Let  her  roll!'' 

The  gambler  lifted  his  face,  white  in  the  brilKant  illumina  • 
tion  directly  over  his  head,  and  I  thought  to  catch  a 
flicker  of  something  like  admiration  m  his  passionless 
eyes.    Then  with  his  left  hand  he  spun  the  wheel. 

The  soft,  dull  whir  and  tiny  clicking  of  the  ball  as  it 
rebounded  from  the  metal  grooves  struck  across  the  tense 
stillness.  As  though  this  was  the  releasing  signal,  a  roar 
of  activity  burst  forth.  Men  all  talked  at  once.  The 
other  tables  and  the  bar  were  deserted,  and  everybody 
crowded  down  toward  the  lower  end  of  the  room.  Danny 
Randall  and  his  friends  rushed  determinedly  to  the  centre 
of  disturbance.  Some  men  were  carrying  out  Scar-face 
Charley.  Others  were  talking  excitedly.  A  Uttle  clear 
space  surrounded  the  roulette  table,  at  which,  as  may  be 
imagined,  Johnny  was  now  the  only  player.  Quite  methodi- 
cally he  laid  three  more  bets. 

"I  think  that's  enough  for  now,"  he  told  the  dealer 
pleasantly,  and  turned  away. 

"HuUo!  RandaU!  hullo!  Frank!"  he  greeted  us.  "I've 
just  won  three  bets  straight.  Let's  have  a  drink.  Bring 
your  friends,"  he  told  Randall, 

287 


GOLD 

We  turned  toward  the  bar  and  way  was  instantly  made 
for  us.  Johnny  poured  himself  a  big  drink  of  whiskey. 
A  number  of  curious  men,  mere  boys  most  of  them,  had 
crowded  close  after  us,  and  were  standing  staring  at 
Johnny  with  a  curiosity  they  made  slight  attempt  to 
conceal.  Johnny  suddenly  turned  to  them,  holding  high 
his  whiskey  in  a  hand  as  steady  as  a  rock. 

"Here's  to  crime,  boys!"  he  said,  and  drank  it  down 
at  a  gulp.  Then  he  stood  staring  them  uncomprisingly 
in  the  face,  until  they  had  slunk  away.  He  called  for 
and  drank  another  whiskey,  then  abruptly  moved  toward 
the  door. 

"I  think  I'll  go  turn  in,"  said  he. 

At  the  door  he  stopped. 

*^  Good-night,"  he  said  to  Randall  and  his  friends,  who 
had  followed  us.  "No,  I  am  obliged  to  you,"  he  replied  to  a 
suggestion,  "but  I  need  no  escort,"  and  he  said  it  so  firmly 
that  all  but  Randall  went  back. 

"I'm  going  to  your  camp  with  you,  whether  you  need 
an  escort  or  not,"  said  the  latter. 

Without  a  word  Johnny  walked  away  down  the  street, 
v^ery  straight.  We  hurried  to  catch  up  with  him;  and  just 
as  we  did  so  he  collapsed  to  the  groimd  and  was  suddenly 
and  violently  sick.  As  I  helped  him  to  his  feet,  I  could  feel 
that  his  arm  was  trembling  violently. 

"Lord,  fellows!  I'm  ashamed,"  he  gasped  a  little 
hysterically.     * '  I  didn't  know  I  had  so  Httle  nerve ! ' ' 

"Nerve!"  suddenly  roared  Danny  Randall;  "confound 
your  confounded  impudence!  If  I  ever  hear  you  say 
another  word  like  that,  I'll  put  a  head  on  you,  if  it's  the 

288 


THE     FIGHT 

last  act  of  my  life!  You're  the  gamest  little  chicken  in 
this  roost,  and  I'll  make  you  beg  like  a  hound  if  you  say 
you  aren't!" 

Johnny  laughed  a  little  imcertainly  over  this  contra- 
diction. 

"Did  I  kiU  him?"  he  asked. 

"No,  worse  luck;  just  bored  him  through  the  collar- 
bone.   That  heavy  Httle  derringer  ball  knocked  him  out." 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  Johnny. 

"Which  I  am  not,"  stated  Danny  Randall  with  emphasis. 
"You  ought  to  have  killed  him." 

"Thanks  to  you  I  wasn't  killed  myself.  I  couldn't 
have  hoped  to  get  the  draw  on  him  with  my  holster  gun. 
He  is  as  quick  as  a  snake." 

"I  thought  you  were  going  to  bimgle  it,"  said  Randall 
''^  What  was  the  matter?  " 

"Front  sight  caught  at  the  edge  of  my  sleeve.  I  had 
to  tear  it  loose  by  main  strength.  I'm  going  to  file  it 
off.    What's  the  use  of  a  front  sight  at  close  range?  " 

I  heaved  a  deep  sigh. 

"Well,  I  don't  want  ever  to  be  so  scared  again,"  I 
confessed.  "Will  you  tell  me,  by  all  that's  holy,  why 
you  turned  your  back  on  the  door?" 

"Well,"  said  Johnny  seriously,  "I  wanted  to  get  him 
close  to  me.  If  I  had  shown  him  that  I'd  seen  him  when 
he  first  came  in  the  door,  he'd  have  opened  fire  at  once. 
And  I'm  a  rotten  shot.  But  I  figured  that  if  he  thought 
I  didn't  see  him,  he'd  come  across  the  room  to  me." 
"But  he  nearly  got  you  by  surprise." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Johnny;  "I  saw  him  all  the  time.    I 

289 


GOLD 

got  his  reflection  from  the  glass  over  that  picture  of  the 
beautiful  lady  sitting  on  the  Old  Crow  Whiskey  barrel. 
That's  why  I  picked  out  that  table." 

^'My  son/' cried  Danny  Randall  delightedly,  "you're  a 
true  sport.    You've  got  a  bead,  you  have! " 

"Well,"  said  Johnny,  "1  figured  I'd  have  to  do  some- 
thing;  I'm  such  a  rotten  shot." 


290 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
THE  EXPRESS  MESSENGER 

We  slept  late  the  following  morning,  and  awoke  tired, 
as  though  we  had  been  on  a  long  journey. 

"Now/'  said  Johnny,  when  our  after-breakfast  pipes 
had  been  lit,  "weVe  got  to  get  together.  There's  two 
serious  questions  before  the  house:  the  first  and  most 
important  is,  who  and  what  is  Danny  Randall?  *' 

"I  agree  with  you  there,"  said  I  heartily. 

"And  the  second  is,  what  are  we  going  to  do  with  our- 
selves?" 

"  I'm  going  to  begin  mining,"  I  stated. 

"All  right,  old  strong-arm;  I  am  not.  I'm  dead  sick 
of  cricking  my  back  and  blistering  my  hands.  It  isn't  my 
kind  of  work;  and  the  only  reason  I  ever  thought  it  was  is 
because  the  stuff  we  dig  is  called  gold." 

"You  aren't  going  to  lie  down?  "  I  cried  incredulously. 

"No,  old  sport,  I'm  not  going  to  He  down.  I  came 
out  here  to  make  my  fortune;  but  I  don't  know  that  I've 
got  to  dig  gold  to  do  that." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"That  I  don't  know,"  confessed  Johnny,  "but  I'll  be 
able  to  inform  you  in  a  few  days.  I  suppose  you'll  be 
going  back  to  the  Porcupine?  " 

"I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  I  seriously.    "I  don't 

291 


GOLD 

believe  the  Porcupine  is  any  richer  than  these  diggings, 
and  it's  mighty  uncertain.  I  believe  a  man's  more  apt 
to  keep  what  he  gets  here,  and  there's  a  lot  more  company, 
and " 

'•In  other  words,  you're  going  to  stick  around  old 
Yank  or  know  the  reason  why!"  interrupted  Johnny  with  a 
little  smile. 

I  flushed,  hesitated,  then  blurted  out:  "Well,  yes. 
I  shouldn't  be  easy  about  him  here  by  himself.  It  strikes 
me  this  is  a  tough  camp,  and  almost  anything's  likely  to 
happen." 

*'I  feel  the  same  way,"  confessed  Johnny.  "We're  all 
partners.  All  right;  ^  stick'  it  is.  We'll  have  to  be  mighty 
plausible  to  keep  Yank  quiet.  That's  agreed,"  he  grinned. 
"Now  I'm  going  up  to  town  to  find  out  about  Danny 
Randall,  and  incidentally  to  look  around  for  something 
to  do.  You're  a  good  steady  liar;  you  go  over  and  talk  to 
Yank." 

We  separated  until  noon.  I  had  no  great  difficulty 
with  Yank,  either  because  I  was,  as  Johnny  said,  a  plau- 
sible Har,  or  because  Yank  was  secretly  glad  to  have  us 
near.  After  visiting  with  him  a  while  I  took  the  axe 
and  set  about  the  construction  of  a  cradle.  Johnny 
returned  near  twelve  o'clock  to  find  me  at  this  useful 
occupation. 

"As  to  Danny  Randall,"  he  began  at  once,  squatting 
near  by:  "Origin  lost  in  mists  of  obscurity.  First  known 
^xi  this  country  as  guide  to  a  party  of  overland  immigrants 
before  the  gold  discovery.  One  of  the  original  Bear  Flag 
revolutionists.    Member    of    Fremont's    raiders    in    the 

292 


THE    EXPRESS     MESSENGER 

south.  Showed  up  again  at  Sonoma  and  headed  a  dozen 
forays  after  the  horse-thieving  Indians  and  half-breeds 
in  the  San  Joaquin.  Seems  now  to  follow  the  mines. 
Guaranteed  the  best  shot  with  rifle  or  pistol  in  the  state. 
Guaranteed  the  best  courage  and  the  quietest  manners 
in  the  state.  Very  eminent  and  square  in  his  profession. 
That's  his  entire  history." 

"What  is  his  profession?  "  I  asked. 

"He  runs  the  Bella  Union.'' 

"A  gambler?"  I  cried,  astonished. 

"Just  so  —  a  square  gambler." 

I  digested  this  in  silence  for  a  moment. 

"Did  you  discover  anything  for  yourself?  "  I  asked  at  last. 

"Best  job  ever  invented,"  said  Johnny  triumphantly, 
"at  three  ounces  a  day;  and  I  can't  beat  that  at  your 
beastly  digging." 

"Yes?  "I  urged. 

"I  invented  it  myself,  too,"  went  on  Johnny  proudly. 
*'You  remember  what  Randall  —  or  the  doctor^ said 
about  the  robberies,  and  the  bodies  of  the  drowned  men 
floating?  Well,  every  man  carries  his  dust  around  in  a 
belt  because  he  dare  not  do  anything  else  with  it.  I  do 
myself,  and  so  do  you;  and  you'll  agree  that  it  weighs  like 
the  mischief.  So  I  went  to  Randall  and  I  suggested  that 
we  start  an  express  service  to  get  the  stuff  out  to  bank 
with  some  good  firm  in  San  Francisco.  He  fell  in  with  the 
idea  in  a  minute.  My  first  notion  was  that  we  take  it 
right  through  to  San  Francisco  ourselves;  but  he  says  he 
can  make  satisfactory  arrangements  to  send  it  in  from 
Sacramento.    That's  about  sixty  miles;  and  we'll  call  it 

293 


GOLD 

A  day's  hard  ride  through  this  country,  with  a  change  of 
horses.  So  now  I'm  what  you  might  call  an  express 
messenger  —  at  three  good  ounces  a  day." 

"But  you'll  be  killed  and  robbed! "  I  cried. 

Johnny's  eyes  were  dancing. 

"Think  of  the  fun!"  said  he. 

"You're  a  rotten  shot,"  I  reminded  him. 

"I'm  to  practise,  under  Danny  Randall,  from  now  until 
the  first  trip." 

"When  is  that?" 

"Do  you  think  we'll  advertise  the  date?  Of  course 
I'd  tell  you,  Jim;  but  honestly  I  don't  know  yet." 

Since  the  matter  seemed  settled,  and  Johnny  deHghted, 
I  said  no  more.  My  cradle  occupied  me  for  three  days 
longer.  In  that  length  of  time  Johnny  banged  away  an 
immense  quantity  of  ammunition,  much  of  it  under  the 
personal  supervision  of  Danny  Randall.  The  latter  had 
Ijis  own  ideas  as  to  the  proper  practice.  He  utterly  refused 
to  let  Johnny  shoot  at  a  small  mark  or  linger  on  his  aim. 

"It's  only  fairly  accurate  work  you  want,  but  quick," 
said  he.  "If  you  practise  always  getting  hold  of  your 
revolver  the  same  way,  and  squeeze  the  trigger  instead  of 
jerking  it,  you'll  do.  If  you  run  against  robbers  it  isn't 
going  to  be  any  target  match." 

When  my  cradle  was  finished,  I  went  prospecting  with  a 
pan;  and  since  this  was  that  golden  year  1849,  and  the 
diggings  were  neither  crowded  nor  worked  out,  I  soon  found 
^colour.'  There  I  dragged  my  cradle,  and  set  quite  happily 
to  work.  Since  I  performed  all  my  own  labour,  the  process 
seemed  slow  to  me  after  the  quick  results  of  trained  co* 

294 


THE    EXPRESS     MESSENGER 

operation;  yet  my  cleanings  at  night  averaged  more  than 
my  share  used  to  be  under  the  partnership.  So  I  fell  into 
settled  work,  well  content.  A  week  later  Johnny  rode  up 
on  a  spirited  and  beautiful  horse,  proud  as  could  be  over  his 
moimt. 

He  confided  to  me  that  it  was  one  of  the  express  horses; 
that  the  first  trip  would  be  very  soon;  and  that  if  I  desired 
to  send  out  my  own  savings,  I  could  do  so.  I  was  glad 
to  do  this,  even  though  the  rates  were  high;  and  we  easily 
persuaded  Yank  of  the  advisability.  Nobody  anticipated 
any  danger  from  this  first  trip,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
few  knew  anything  about  it.  Randall  and  his  friends 
made  up  the  amoimt  that  could  be  carried  by  the  three  men. 
For  the  first  time  I  learned  that  Johnny  had  companions. 
They  started  from  our  own  tent,  a  little  after  sundown. 
Indeed,  they  ate  their  supper  with  us,  while  their  beautiful 
horses,  head  high,  stared  out  into  the  growing  darkness. 
One  of  the  express  riders  was  a  slight,  dark  youth  whom  \ 
had  never  seen  before.  In  the  other  I  was  surprised  to 
recognize  Old  Hickory  Pine.  He  told  me  his  people  had 
'^squatted"  not  far  from  Sacramento,  but  that  he  had  come 
up  into  the  hills  on  summons  by  Danny  Randall.  The 
fact  impressed  me  anew  as  to  Randall's  wide  knowledge, 
for  the  Pines  had  not  been  long  in  the  coimtry. 

The  trip  went  through  without  incident.  Johnny 
returned  four  days  later  aglow  with  the  joy  of  that  adven- 
turous ride  through  the  dark.  Robbers^aside,  I  acknowledge 
I  should  not  have  Hked  that  job.  I  am  no  horseman,  and 
I  confess  that  at  full  speed  I  am  always  uneasv  as  to  how 
£  four-hoofed  animal  is  going  successfully  to  plant  «aj| 

295 


GOLD 

four  of  them.  And  these  three  boys,  for  they  were  nothing 
else,  had  co  gallop  the  thirty  miles  of  the  road  to  Sacramento 
that  lay  in  tlie  mountains  before  dawn  caught  them  in  the 
defiles. 

Johnny  seemed  to  glory  in  it,  however.  Danny  Randall 
had  arranged  for  a  change  of  horses;  and  the  three  express 
riders  liked  to  dash  up  at  full  speed  to  the  relay  station, 
fling  themselves  and  their  treasure  bags  from  one  beast 
to  the  other,  and  be  off  again  with  the  least  possible 
expenditure  of  time.  The  incoming  animal  had  hardly 
come  to  a  stand  before  the  fresh  animal  was  off.  There 
could  have  been  no  real  occasion  for  quite  so  much  haste; 
but  they  liked  to  do  it.  The  trips  were  made  at  irregular 
intervals;  and  the  riders  left  camp  at  odd  times.  Indeed, 
no  hour  of  the  twenty-four  was  unlikely  to  be  that  of  their 
start.  Each  boy  carried  fifty  pounds  of  gold  dust  dis- 
tributed in  four  pouches.  This  was  a  heavy  weight,  but 
it  was  compensated  for  to  some  extent  by  the  fact  that 
they  rode  very  light  saddles.  Thus  every  trip  the  enormous 
siun  of  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  went  out  in  charge  of 
the  three. 

The  first  half  dozen  journeys  were  more  or  less  secret, 
so  that  the  express  service  did  not  become  known  to  the 
general  public.  Then  the  news  inevitably  leaked  out. 
Danny  Randall  thereupon  openly  received  shipments 
and  gave  receipts  at  the  Bella  Um'on.  It  seemed  to  me 
only  a  matter  of  time  before  the  express  messengers  should 
be  waylaid,  for  the  treasure  they  carried  was  worth  any 
one's  while.     I  spoke  to  Randall  about  it  one  day. 

"If  Ami  jo  or  Murietta  or  Dick  Temple  were  in  this 

296 


THE    EXPRESS     MESSENGER 

part  of  the  country,  I'd  agree  with  you,"  said  he  seriously, 
"but  they  are  not,  and  there's  nobody  in  this  lot  of  cheap 
desperadoes  around  here  that  has  the  nerve.  Those  three 
boys  have  a  big  reputation  as  fighters;  their  horses  are 
good;  they  constantly  vary  their  route  and  their  times  of 
starting;  and  Johnny  in  especial  has  a  foxy  head  on  him." 

"The  weak  point  is  the  place  they  change  horses,"  said  I. 

Randall  looked  at  me  quickly,  as  though  surprised. 

"Why,  that's  true,"  said  he;  "not  a  doubt  of  it.  But 
IVe  got  five  armed  men  there  to  look  after  just  that. 
And  another  thing  you  must  remember:  they  know  that 
Danny  Randall  is  running  this  show." 

Certainly,  thought  I,  Danny  at  least  appreciates  him- 
self; and  yet,  after  all,  I  do  not  think  he  in  any  way  ex- 
aggerated the  terror  his  name  inspired. 


aQ7 


CHAPTER  XXXn 
ITALIAN  BAR 

As  now  we  are  all  settled  down  to  our  various  occupations, 
Yank  of  patience,  Johnny  of  delighted  adventuring,  and 
myself  of  dogged  industry,  it  might  be  well  to  give  you 
some  sort  of  a  notion  of  Italian  Bar,  as  this  new  camp  was 
called.  I  saw  a  great  deal  of  it,  more  than  I  really  wished, 
for  out  of  working  hours  I  much  frequented  it  in  the  vague 
hope  of  keeping  tabs  on  its  activities  for  Johnny's  sake. 

It  was  situated  on  one  of  the  main  overland  trails, 
and  that  was  possibly  the  only  reason  its  rich  diggings 
had  not  been  sooner  discovered  —  it  was  too  accessible! 
The  hordes  of  imimigrants  dragged  through  the  dusty  main 
street,  sometimes  in  an  almost  unending  procession. 
More  of  them  hereafter;  they  were  in  general  a  sad  lot. 
Some  of  them  were  always  encamped  in  the  flats  below 
town;  and  about  one  of  the  stores  a  number  of  them  could 
be  seen  trying  to  screw  their  resolution  up  to  paying  the 
appalling  prices  for  necessities.  The  majority  had  no 
spare  money,  and  rarely  any  spirit  left;  and  nobody  paid 
much  attention  to  them  except  to  play  practical  jokes  on 
them.  Very  few  if  any  of  this  influx  stopped  at  Italian 
Bar.  Again  it  was  too  accessible.  They  had  their  vision 
fixed  hypnotically  on  the  West,  and  westward  they  would 
push  imtil  they  bumped  the  Pacific  Ocean.    Of  course  a 

298 


ITALIAN    BAR 

great  many  were  no  such  dumb  creatures,  but  were  capable, 
self-reliant  men  who  knew  what  they  were  about  and  where 
they  were  going.  Nobody  tried  to  play  any  practical 
jokes  on  them. 

Of  the  regular  population  I  suppose  three  fourths  were 
engaged  in  gold  washing.  The  miners  did  not  differ  from 
those  of  their  class  anywhere  else;  that  is  to  say,  they  were 
of  all  nationaUties,  all  classes  of  life,  and  all  degrees  of 
moral  responsibiHty.  They  worked  doggedly  and  fast 
in  order  to  get  as  much  done  as  possible  before  the  seasonal 
rains.  When  night  fell  the  most  of  them  returned  to  their 
cabins  and  slept  the  sleep  of  the  weary;  with  a  weekly 
foray  into  town  of  a  more  or  less  lurid  character.  They 
had  no  time  for  much  else,  in  their  notion;  and  on  that 
accoimt  were,  probably  unconsciously,  the  most  selfish 
conamunity  I  ever  saw.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  sickness, 
and  many  deaths,  but  unless  a  man  had  a  partner  or  a 
friend  to  give  him  some  care,  he  might  die  in  his  cabin  for  all 
the  attention  any  one  else  would  pay  him.  In  the  same 
spirit  only  direct  personal  interest  would  arouse  in  any 
of  them  the  least  indignation  over  the  only  too  frequent 
killings  and  robberies. 

"They  found  a  man  shot  by  the  Upper  Bend  this  morn- 
ing," remarks  one  to  his  neighbour. 

"That  so?    Who  was  he? "  asks  the  other. 

"Don' t  know.    Didn't  hear,"  is  the  reply. 

The  barroom  or  street  killings,  which  averaged  in  number 
at  least  two  or  three  a  week,  while  furnishing  more  ex- 
citement, aroused  very  Httle  more  real  interest.  Open 
and  above-board  homicides  of  that  sort  were  always  the 

299 


GOLD 

result  of  differences  of  opinion.  If  the  victim  had  a  friend, 
the  latter  might  go  gunning  for  his  pal's  slayer;  but  nobody 
had  enough  personal  friends  to  elevate  any  such  row  to  the 
proportions  of  a  general  feud. 

All  inquests  were  set  aside  until  Sunday.  A  rough 
and  ready  pubUc  meeting  invariably  brought  in  the  same 
verdict  —  "justifiable  self-defence."  At  these  times,  too, 
popular  justice  was  dispensed,  but  carelessly  and  not 
at  all  in  the  spirit  of  the  court  presided  over  by  John  Semple 
at  Hangman's  Gulch.  A  general  air  of  levity  characterized 
these  occasions,  which  might  strike  as  swift  and  deadlv  a 
blow  as  a  shaft  of  lightning,  or  might  puff  away  as  harm- 
lessly as  a  summer  zephyr.  Many  a  time,  until  I  learned 
philosophically  to  stay  away,  did  my  blood  boil  over  the 
haphazard  way  these  men  had  of  disposing  of  some  poor 
creature's  destinies. 

"Here's  a  Mex  thief,"  observed  the  chair.  "What  do 
you  want  done  with  him?" 

"Move  we  cut  off  his  ears!"  yelled  a  voice  from  the 
back  of  the  crowd. 

"Make  it  fifty  lashes!"  shouted  another. 

A  wrangle  at  once  started  between  the  advocates  of 
cropping  and  the  whip.     The  crowd  wearied  of  it. 

"Let  the go!"  suggested  some  one. 

And  this  motion  was  carried  with  acclamation.  No 
evidence  was  offered  or  asked  as  to  the  extent  of  the  man's 
guilt,  or  indeed  if  he  was  guilty  at  all! 

The  meeting  had  a  grim  sense  of  humour,  and  enjoyed 
nothing  more  than  really  elaborate  foolery.  Such  as,  for 
example,  the  celebrated  case  of  Pio  Chino's  bronco. 

300 


ITALIAN    BAR 

Pio  Chino  was  a  cargador  running  a  train  of  pack-mules 
into  some  back-country  camp.  His  bell  mare  was  an 
ancient  white  animal  with  long  shaggy  hair,  ewe  neck, 
bulging  joints,  a  placid  wall  eye,  the  full  complement  of 
ribs,  and  an  extraordinarily  long  Roman  nose  ending  in  a 
pendulous  lip.  Yet  fifteen  besotted  mules  thought  her 
beautiful,  and  followed  her  slavishly,  in  which  fact  lay 
her  only  value.  Now  somebody,  probably  for  a  joke, 
''lifted"  this  ancient  wreck  from  poor  Chino  on  the  ground 
that  it  had  never  been  Chino's  property  anyway.  Chino, 
with  childlike  faith  in  the  dignity  of  institutions,  brought 
the  matter  before  the  weekly  court. 

That  body  took  charge  with  immense  satisfaction.  It 
•appointed  lawyers  for  the  prosecution  and  the  defence. 

"Prosecution  started  to  submit  Chino's  claim. 

Defence  immediately  objected  on  the  ground  that 
Chino,  being  a  person  of  colour,  was  not  qualified  to  testify 
against  a  white  man. 

This  point  was  wrangled  over  with  great  relish  for 
an  hour  or  more.  Then  two  solemn  individuals  were 
introduced  as  experts  to  decide  whether  Chino  was  a  man 
of  colour,  or,  as  the  prosecution  passionately  maintained, 
a  noble,  great-minded  and  patriotic  California  member 
of  the  Caucasian  race. 

"Gentlemen,"  the  court  addressed  this  pair,  "is  there 
any  infalKble  method  by  which  your  science  is  able  to 
distinguish  between  a  nigger  and  a  white  man?  " 

"There  is,"  answered  one  of  the  "experts." 

"What?" 

"The  back  teeth  of  a  white  man  have  small  roots  reaching 

3©i 


GOLD 

straight  down,"  expounded  the  "expert"  solemnly,  **\fhile 
those  of  a  negro  have  roots  branching  in  every  direction." 

"And  how  do  you  expect  to  determine  this  case?" 

"By  extracting  one  or  more  of  the  party's  back  teeth," 
announced  the  "expert"  gravely,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
ducing a  huge  pair  of  horseshoeing  nippers. 

Chino  uttered  a  howl,  but  was  violently  restrained  from 
bolting.  He  was  understood  to  say  that  he  didn't  want 
that  mare.  I  should  not  have  been  a  bit  surprised  if 
they  had  carried  the  idea  of  extraction  to  a  finish;  but  the 
counsel  for  defence  interposed,  waiving  the  point.  He  did 
not  want  the  fim  to  come  to  that  sort  of  a  termination. 

Prosecution  then  offered  the  evidence  of  Chino's  brand. 
Now  that  old  mare  was  branded  from  muzzle  to  tail,  and 
on  both  sides.  She  must  have  been  sold  and  resold  four  or 
^ve  times  for  every  year  of  her  long  and  useful  life.  The 
network  of  brands  was  absolutely  indecipherable. 

"Shave  her!"  yelled  some  genius. 

That  idea  caught  hold.  The  entire  gathering  took  an 
interest  in  the  operation,  which  half  a  dozen  men  performed. 
They  shaved  that  poor  old  mare  from  nose  to  the  tip  of  her 
ratlike  tail.  Not  even  an  eye- winker  was  left  to  her. 
She  resembled  nothing  so  much  as  one  of  the  sluglike 
little  Mexican  hairless  dogs  we  had  seen  on  the  Isthmus. 
The  brands  now  showed  plainly  enough,  but  were  as 
compUcated  as  ever  in  appearance.  Thunders  of  mock 
forensic  oratory  shook  the  air.  I  remember  defence 
acknowledged  that  in  that  multiplicity  of  lines  the  figure 
of  Chino's  brand  could  be  traced;  but  pointed  to  the  stars 
of  the  heavens  and  the  figures  of  their  constellations  to 

302 


ITALIAN    BAR     - 

prove  what  could  be  done  by  a  vivid  imagination  in  evolving 
fancy  patterns.  By  this  time  it  was  Jate,  and  court  was 
adjourned  until  next  week. 

The  following  Sunday,  after  a  tremendous  legal  battle,  con- 
ducted with  the  reKshing  solemnity  with  which  Americans 
like  to  take  their  fooling,  it  was  decided  to  call  in  an  ex- 
pert on  brands,  and  a  certain  California  rancher  ten  miles 
distant  was  agreed  upon. 

"But,"  objected  the  defence,  "he  is  a  countryman  of 
the  complainant.  However  honest,  he  will  nevertheless 
sympathize  with  his  own  blood.  Before  the  case  is  put 
before  him,  he  should  view  these  brands  as  an  unpredjudiced 
observer.  I  suggest  that  they  be  transcribed  to  paper 
and  submitted  to  him  without  explanation." 

This  appealed  to  the  crowd.  The  astonished  mare  was 
again  led  out,  and  careful  drawings  made  of  her  most 
remarkable  sides.  Then  the  case  was  again  adjourned  one 
week. 

On  that  day  the  Califomian  was  on  hand,  very  grave, 
very  much  dressed  up,  very  flattered  at  being  called  as 
an  expert  in  anything.    The  drawing  was  laid  before  him. 

"Don  Luis,"  said  the  court  formally,  "what  do  you, 
as  expert,  make  of  that?  " 

Don  Luis  bent  his  grave  Spanish  head  over  the  doomient 
for  some  minutes.  Then  he  turned  it  upside  down  and 
examined  it  again;  sideways;  the  other  end.  When  he 
looked  up  a  little  twinkle  of  himiour  lurked  deep  in  his 
black  eyes,  but  his  face  was  solemn  and  ceremonious. 

"Well,  Don  Luis,"  repeated  the  court,  "what  do  you 
make  of  it?" 

303 


GOLD 

Sefior,"  replied  Don  Luis  courteously,  "it  fooks  to  me 
like  a  most  excellent  map  of  Sonora." 

WHicn  the  crowd  had  quieted  down  after  this,  the  court 
ordered  tlie  animal  brought  forth. 

''May  it  please  y'r  honour,  the  critter  got  a  chill  and; 
done  died,"  announced  the  cadaverous  Missourian,  tol 
whose  care  tlie  animal  had  been  confided. 

''H'm,"  said  the  court.  ''Well,  here's  the  court's 
decision  in  this  case.  Pio  Chino  fined  one  drink  for 
taking  up  our  valuable  time;  Abe  Sellers  fined  one  drink 
for  ckuniing  such  an  old  crow-bait  on  any  grounds;  Sam 
is  fined  one  drink  for  not  putting  a  blanket  on  that  mare." 
("I  only  got  one  blanket  myself!"  cried  the  grieved 
Missourian.)  "The  fines  must  be  paid  in  to  the  court  at 
the  close  of  tliis  session." 

Hugely  tickled,  the  meeting  arose.  Pio  Chino,  to 
whom  the  tidings  of  his  bell  mare's  demise  was  evidently 
news,  stood  the  picture  of  dejected  woe.  His  downcast 
figure  attracted  the  careless  attention  of  one  of  the  men. 

"Here  boys!"  he  yelled,  snatching  ofi'  his  hat.  "This 
ain't  so  damn  funny  for  Chino  here!"  He  passed  the 
hat  among  the  crowd.  They  tossed  in  gold,  good  naturedly, 
abundantly,  with  a  laugh.  Nobody  knows  what  amount 
was  dumped  into  the  astounded  Chino's  old  sombrero;  but 
the  mare  was  certainly  not  worth  over  fifteen  dollars.  If 
some  one  had  dragged  Chino  before  that  same  gathering 
under  unsupported  accusation  of  any  sort,  it  would  as 
cheerfully  and  thoughtlessly  have  hung  him. 

Of  the  gambling  places,  one  only  —  that  conducted  by 
Danny  Randall  and  called  the  Bella  Union  —  inspired  any 

304 


ITALIAN    BAR 

sort  of  confidence.  The  other  two  were  frequented  by  a 
rough,  insolent  crew,  given  to  sudden  silences  in  presence 
of  newcomers,  good-humoured  after  a  wild  and  disconcerting 
fashion,  plunging  heavily  at  the  gaming  tables  and  drinking 
as  heavily  at  the  bars.  This  is  not  to  imply  that  any  strong 
line  of  demarkation  existed  between  the  habitues  of  one 
or  the  other  of  these  places.  When  an  inhabitant  of 
ItaKan  Bar  started  out  for  relaxation,  he  visited  everything 
there  was  to  visit,  and  drifted  impartially  between  Morton's, 
Randall's  Bella  Union,  and  the  Empire.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  noise  and  loud  talk  in  any  of  them ;  and  occasionally 
a  pistol  shot.  This  was  generally  a  signal  for  most  of  the 
bystanders  to  break  out  through  the  doors  and  windows, 
and  for  the  gayly  inclined  to  shoot  out  the  lights.  The 
latter  feat  has  often  been  cited  admiringly  as  testifying  to  a 
high  degree  of  marksmanship,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
wind  and  concussion  from  the  heavy  revolver  bullets  were 
quite  sufficient  to  put  out  any  lamp  to  which  the  missiles 
passed  reasonably  close.  Sometimes  these  affrays  resulted 
in  material  for  the  Sunday  inquests;  but  it  is  astonishing 
how  easily  men  can  miss  each  other  at  close  range.  Most 
of  the  shootings  were  the  results  of  drunken  quarrels. 
For  that  reason  the  professed  gunmen  were  rarely  involved. 
One  who  possessed  an  established  reputation  was  let  alone 
by  the  ordinary  citizen;  and  most  severely  alone  by  the 
swaggering  bulUes,  of  whom  there  were  not  a  few.  These 
latter  found  prey  for  their  queer  stripe  of  vanity  among 
the  young,  the  weak,  and  the  drunken.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  any  man  of  determined  character  could  keep 
out  of  trouble  even  in  the  worst  days  of  the  camp,  provided 

305 


GOLD 

he  had  no  tempting  wealth,  atter^ded  to  his  own  affairs, 
and  maintained  a  quiet  though  resolute  demeanour. 

When  in  camp  Johnny  and  his  two  companions  shone  as 
bright  particular  stars.  They  were  only  boys,  and  they 
had  blossomed  out  in  wonderful  garments.  Johnny  had 
a  Califomian  sombrero  with  steeple  crown  loaded  with 
silver  ornaments,  and  a  pair  of  Spanish  spurs  heavily 
inlaid  with  the  same  metal,  a  Chinese  scarf  about  his 
neck,  and  a  short  jacket  embroidered  with  silver  thread. 
But  most  astonishing  of  all  was  a  large  off-colour  diamond 
set  in  a  ring,  through  which  he  ran  the  ends  of  his  scarf. 
Parenthetically,  it  was  from  this  that  he  got  his  sobriquet 
of  Diamond  Jack.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  fun  laughing  at 
Johnny,  but  he  didn't  mind. 

^'This  diamond,"  he  pointed  out,  "is  just  as  good  as 
gold  dust,  it's  easier  carried,  and  I  can  have  some  fun 
out  of  it." 

I  am  afraid  he  and  Old  Hickory  Pine  and  Cal  Marsh  did 
a  bit  of  swaggering  while  in  town.  They  took  a  day  to 
the  down  trip,  and  jogged  back  in  a  day  and  a  half,  stop- 
ping in  Sacramento  only  the  extra  half  day.  Then  they 
rested  with  us  one  day,  and  were  off  the  next.  Thus  they 
accomplished  seven  or  eight  trips  in  the  month.  Both  Old 
and  Cal  had  the  reputation  of  being  quick,  accurate  shots, 
although  I  have  never  seen  them  perform.  As  the  three 
of  them  were  absolutely  inseparable  they  made  a  formidable 
combination  that  nothing  but  an  organized  gang  would  care 
to  tackle.  Consequently  they  swaggered  as  much  as  they 
pleased.  At  bottom  they  were  good,  clean,  attractive 
boys,  who  were  engaged  in  an  adventure  that  was  thrilling 

306 


ITALIAN     BAR 

enough  in  sober  reality,  but  which  they  loved  to  deck 
forth  in  further  romance.  They  one  and  all  assumed  the 
stern,  aloof,  lofty  pose  of  those  whose  affairs  were  too 
weighty  to  permit  mingling  with  ordinary  amusements. 
Their  speech  was  laconic,  their  manners  grave,  their 
attitude  self-contained.  It  was  a  good  thing,  I  believe; 
for  outside  the  fact  that  it  kept  them  out  of  quarrels,  it 
kept  them  also  out  of  drinking  and  gambling. 

I  made  many  acquaintances  of  course,  but  only  a  few 
friends.  The  best  of  these  were  Dr.  Rankin  and  Danny 
Randall.  Strangely  enough,  these  two  were  great  pals. 
Danny  had  a  little  room  back  of  the  Bella  Union  furnished 
out  with  a  round  table,  a  dozen  chairs,  and  a  sofa.  Here 
he  loved  to  retire  with  his  personal  friends  to  sip  drinks, 
smoke,  and  to  discuss  all  sorts  of  matters.  A  Uttle  glass- 
less  window  gave  into  the  Bella  Union,  and  as  the  floor  of  the 
little  room  was  raised  a  foot  or  so,  Danny  sat  where  he 
could  see  everything  that  went  on.  These  gatherings 
varied  in  number,  but  never  exceeded  the  capacity  of  the 
dozen  chairs.  I  do  not  know  how  Danny  had  caused  it 
to  be  understood  that  these  were  invitation  affairs,  but 
understood  it  was,  and  no  one  ever  presumed  to  intrude 
unbidden  into  the  little  room.  Danny  selected  his  company 
as  the  fancy  took  him. 

As  to  why  he  should  so  often  have  chosen  me  I  must 
again  confess  ignorance.  Perhaps  because  I  was  a  good 
listener.  If  so,  the  third  member  of  a  very  frequent 
triimavirate.  Dr.  Rankin,  was  invited  for  the  opposite 
quality.  The  doctor  was  a  great  talker,  an  analyst  of 
conditions,    and    a   philosophical    spectator.    The   most 

307 


GOLD 

frequent  theme  of  our  talks  was  the  prevalence  of  disorder. 
On  this  subject  the  doctor  had  very  decided  views. 

"There  is  disorder  because  we  shirk  our  duty  as  a 
commimity/'  he  stated,  "and  we  shirk  our  duty  as  a 
community  because  we  believe  in  our  hearts  that  we  aren't 
a  community.  What  does  Jones  or  Smith  or  Robinson  or 
anybody  else  really  care  for  Italian  Bar  as  a  place;  or, 
indeed,  for  California  as  a  place?  Not  a  tinker's  damni 
He  came  out  here  in  the  first  place  to  make  his  pile,  and 
in  the  second  place  to  have  a  good  time.  He  isn't  dependent 
on  any  one's  good  opinion,  as  he  used  to  be  at  home.  He 
refuses  to  be  bothered  with  responsibilities  and  he  doesn't 
need  to  be.  Why  a  pan  miner  needn't  even  speak  to  his 
next  neighbour  unless  he  wants  to;  and  a  cradle  miner 
need  bother  only  with  his  partners!" 

"Miners'  meetings  have  done  some  pretty  good  legis- 
lation," I  pointed  out. 

"Legislation;  yes!"  cried  the  doctor.  "Haven't  you 
discovered  that  the  American  has  a  perfect  genius  for 
organization?  Eight  coal  heavers  on  a  desert  island  would 
in  a  week  have  a  full  list  of  officers,  a  code  of  laws,  and 
would  be  wrangling  over  ridiculous  parliamentary  points 
of  order  in  their  meetings.  That's  just  the  trouble.  The 
sase  with  which  Americans  can  sketch  out  a  state  on  paper 
is  an  anodyne  to  conscience.  We  get  together  and  pass  a 
lot  of  resolutions,  and  go  away  with  a  satisfied  feeling 
that  we've  really  done  something." 

"But  I  believe  a  camp  like  this  may  prove  permanent," 
objected  Randall. 

"Exactly.    And  by  that  very  fact  a  social  obligation 

308 


ITALIAN    BAR 

comes  into  existence.  Trouble  is,  every  mother's  son 
tries  to  escape  it  in  his  own  case.  What  is  every  one's 
business  is  no  one's  business.  Every  fellow  thinks  he's 
got  away  from  being  bothered  with  such  things.  Sooner 
or  later  he'll  find  out  he  hasn't,  and  then  he'll  have  to 
pay  for  his  vacation." 

"We  never  stood  for  much  thieving  at  Hangman's 
Gulch,"  I  interposed. 

"What  did  you  do?" 

"We  whipped  and  sent  them  about  their  business." 

"To  some  other  camp.  You  merely  passed  on  your 
responsibility;  you  didn't  settle  it.  Your  whipping 
merely  meant  turning  loose  a  revengeful  and  desperate  man. 
Your  various  banishments  merely  meant  your  exchanging 
these  fiends  with  the  other  camps.  It's  like  scattering  the 
coyotes  that  come  around  your  fire." 

"What  would  you  do,  Doctor?"  asked  Randall  quietly; 
"we  have  no  regular  law." 

"Why  not?  Why  don't  you  adopt  a  little  regular  law? 
You  need  about  three  in  this  camp  —  against  killing, 
against  thievery,  and  against  assault.  Only  enforce  in 
every  instance,  as  far  as  possible." 

"You  can't  get  this  crowd  to  take  time  investigating 
the  troubles  of  some  man  they  never  heard  of." 

"Exactly." 

"And  if  they  get  too  bad,"  said  Danny,  "we'll  have  to 
get  the  stranglers  busy." 

"Confound  it,  man!"  roared  Dr.  Rankin,  beating  the 
table,  "that's  just  what  I've  been  trying  to  tell  you. 
You  ought  not  to  care  so  much  for  punishing  as  for  deterring. 


GOLD 

Don^t  you  know  that  it's  a  commonplace  that  it  isn't  the 
terrifying  quality  of  the  penalty  that  acts  as  a  deterrent 
to  crime,  but  it's  the  certainty  of  the  penalty!  If  a  horse 
thief  knows  that  there's  merely  a  chance  the  community 
will  get  mad  enough  to  hang  him,  he'll  take  that  chance  in 
hopes  this  may  not  be  the  time.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  knows  that  eoery  time  he  steals  a  horse  he's  going  to  be 
caught  and  fined  even,  he  tliinks  a  long  time  before  he 
steals  it." 

"All  that's  true,  Doctor,"  said  Danny,  "as  theory;  but 
now  I'm  coming  to  bat  with  a  little  practice.  Here's  the 
camp  of  Italian  Bar  in  the  year  1849.  What  would  you 
do?" 

"Elect  the  proper  officers  and  enforce  the  law,"  answered 
the  doctor  promptly. 

"Who  would  you  elect?" 

"There  are  plenty  of  good  men  here." 

"Name  me  any  one  who  would  take  the  job.  The  good 
men  are  all  washing  gold;  and  they're  in  a  hurry  to  finish 
before  the  rains.  I  don't  care  who  you're  about  to  name  — 
if  anybody;  this  is  about  what  he'd  say:  'I  can't  afford  to 
leave  my  claim;  I  didn't  come  out  here  to  risk  my  life 
in  that  sort  of  a  row;  I  am  leaving  for  the  city  when  the 
rains  begin,  and  I  don't  know  that  I'll  come  back  to  Italian 
Bar  next  season!'" 

"Make  it  worth  their  while.  Pay  them,"  insisted  the 
doctor  stoutly. 

"And  how's  the  money  to  pay  them  to  be  collected? 
You'd  have  to  create  the  officers  of  a  government  —  and 
pay  ihem,^^ 

$10 


ITALIAN     BAR 

^^WeU,whynot?'' 

"At  the  election,  who  would  take  interest  to  elect  a 
decent  man,  even  if  you  could  get  hold  of  one?  Not 
the  other  decent  men.  They're  too  busy,  and  too  little 
interested.  But  the  desperadoes  and  hard  characters 
would  be  very  much  interested  in  getting  some  of  their 
own  stripe  in  ojfice.  The  chances  are  they  would  be  coming 
back  to  Italian  Bar  next  season,  especially  if  they  had  the 
legal  machinery  for  keeping  themselves  out  of  trouble. 
You'd  simply  put  yourself  in  their  power." 

Dr.  Rankin  shook  his  head. 

"Just  the  same,  you'll  see  that  I  am  right,"  he  proph- 
esied. "This  illusion  of  freedom  to  the  social  obligation 
is  only  an  illusion.  It  will  have  to  be  paid  for  with  added 
violence  and  turmoil." 

"Why,  I  beheve  you're  right  as  to  that,  Doctor,"  agreed 
Danny,  "but  I've  discovered  that  often  in  this  world  ? 
man  has  to  pay  a  high  price  for  what  he  gets.  In  fact, 
sometimes  it's  very  expedient  to  pay  a  high  price." 

"I  can  foresee  a  lot  of  violence  before  the  thing  is  worked 
out." 

At  this  point  the  doctor,  to  his  manifest  disgust,  was 
summoned  to  attend  to  some  patient. 

"That  aU  sounds  interesting,"  said  I  to  Danny  Randall 
once  we  were  alone,  "but  I  don't  exactly  fit  it  in." 

"It  means,"  said  Danny,  "that  some  day  Morton's 
gang  will  go  a  little  too  far,  and  we'll  have  to  get  together 
and  string  some  of  them  up." 


3" 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 
THE  OVERLAND   IMMIGRANTS 

The  overland  immigrants  never  ceased  to  interest  us. 
The  illness,  destitution,  and  suffering  that  obtained  among 
these  people  has  never  been  adequately  depicted.  For 
one  outfit  with  healthy  looking  members  and  adequate 
cattle  there  were  dozens  conducted  by  hollow-eyed,  gaunt 
men,  drav/n  by  few  weak  animals.  Women  trudged  wearily, 
carrying  children.  And  the  tales  they  brought  were  terrible. 
They  told  us  of  thousands  they  had  left  behind  in  the 
great  desert  of  the  Humboldt  Sink,  fighting  starvation, 
disease,  and  the  loss  of  cattle.  Women  who  had  lost  their 
husbands  from  the  deadly  cholera  were  staggering  on 
udthout  food  or  water,  leading  their  children.  The  trail  was 
lined  with  dead  mules  and  cattle.  Some  said  that  five 
thousand  had  perished  on  the  plains  from  cholera  alone. 
In  the  middle  of  the  desert,  miles  from  anywhere,  were  the 
death  camps,  the  wagons  drawn  in  the  usual  circle,  the 
dead  animals  tainting  the  air,  every  Hving  human  being 
crippled  from  scurvy  and  other  diseases.  There  was  no 
fodder  for  the  cattle,  and  one  man  told  us  that  he  estimated, 
soberly,  that  three  fourths  of  the  draught  animals  on  the 
plains  must  die. 

"And  then  where  will  their  owners  be? '' 

The  Indians  were  hostile  and  thieving.    Most  of  the 

312 


THE     OVERLAND     IMMIGRANTS 

ample  provision  that  had  been  laid  in  had  to  be  thrown? 
away  to  lighten  the  loads  for  the  enfeebled  animals. 
Such  immigrants  as  got  through  often  arrived  in  an 
impoverished  condition.  Many  of  these  on  the  route  were 
reduced  by  starvation  to  living  on  the  putrefied  flesh 
of  the  dead  animals  along  the  road.  This  occasioned 
more  sickness.  The  desert  seemed  interminable.  At 
nightfall  the  struggling  trains  lay  down  exhausted  with 
only  the  assurance  of  another  scorching,  burning  day  to 
follow.  And  when  at  last  a  few  reached  the  Humboldt 
River,  they  found  it  almost  impossible  to  ford  —  and  the 
feed  on  the  other  side.  In  the  distance  showed  the  high 
forbidding  ramparts  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas.  A  man  named 
Delano  told  us  that  five  men  drowned  themselves  in  the 
Humboldt  River  in  one  day  out  of  sheer  discouragement/ 
Another  man  said  he  had  saved  the  lives  of  his  oxen  by 
giving  some  Indians  fifteen  dollars  to  swim  the  river  and 
float  some  grass  across  to  him.  The  water  of  the  Humboldt 
had  a  bad  effect  on  horses,  and  great  nmnbers  died.  The 
Indians  stole  others.  The  animals  that  remained  were 
weak.  The  destruction  of  property  was  inamense,  for 
everything  that  could  be  spared  was  thrown  away  in  order 
to  lighten  the  loads.  The  road  was  lined  with  abandoned 
wagons,  stoves,  mining  implements,  clothes. 

We  were  told  these  things  over  and  over,  heavily,  in 
little  snatches,  by  men  too  wearied  and  discouraged  and 
beaten  even  to  rejoice  that  they  had  come  through  alive. 
They  were  not  interested  in  telUng  us,  but  they  told, 
as  though  their  minds  were  so  full  that  they  could  not 
help  it.    I  remember  one  evening  when  we  were  feeding  at 

313 


GOLD 

our  camp  the  members  of  one  of  these  trains,  a  charity 
every  miner  proffered  nearly  every  day  of  the  week.  The 
party  consisted  of  one  wagon,  a  half  dozen  gaunt,  dull- 
eyed  oxen,  two  men,  and  a  crushed-looking,  tragic  young 
woman.  One  of  the  men  had  in  a  crude  way  the  gift  of 
words. 

He  told  of  the  crowds  of  people  awaiting  the  new  grass 
at  Independence  in  Missouri,  of  the  making  up  of  the 
parties,  the  election  of  officers  for  the  trip,  the  discussion 
of  routes,  the  visiting,  the  campfires,  the  boundless  hope. 

''There  were  near  twenty  thousand  people  waiting  for 
the  grass,"  said  our  friend;  a  statement  we  thought  ex- 
aggerated, but  one  which  I  have  subsequently  found  to 
be  not  far  from  the  truth. 

By  the  middle  of  May  the  trail  from  the  Missouri  River 
to  Fort  Laramie  was  occupied  by  a  continuous  line  of 
wagons. 

''That  was  fine  travelling,"  said  the  immigrant  in  the 
detached  way  of  one  who  speaks  of  dead  history.  "There 
was  grass  and  water;  and  the  wagon  seemed  like  a  little 
house  at  night.     Everybody  was  jolly.     It  didn't  last  long." 

After  Fort  Laramie  there  were  three  hundred  miles  of 
plains,  with  little  grass  and  less  water. 

"We  thought  that  was  a  desert!"  exclaimed  the  immi- 
grant bitterly.  "My  God!  Quite  a  lot  turned  back  at 
Laramie.  They  were  scared  by  the  cholera  that  broke 
out,  scared  by  the  stories  of  the  desert,  scared  by  the 
Indians.  They  went  back.  I  suppose  they're  well  and 
hearty  —  and  kicking  themselves  every  gold  report  that 
goes  back  east." 

314 


THE     OVERLAND     IMMIGRANTS 

The  bright  anticipations,  the  joy  of  the  life,  the  romance 
of  the  journey  all  faded  before  the  grim  reality.  The 
monotony  of  the  plains,  the  barrenness  of  the  desert, 
the  toil  of  the  mountains,  the  terrible  heat,  the  dust, 
the  rains,  the  sickness,  the  tragedy  of  deaths  had  flattened 
all  buoyancy,  and  left  in  its  stead  only  a  sullen,  dogged 
determination. 

"There  was  lots  of  quarrelling,  of  course,''  said  our 
narrator.  ''Everybody  was  on  edge.  There  were  fights, 
that  we  had  to  settle  somehow,  and  bad  feeling." 

They  had  several  minor  skirmishes  with  Indians,  lost 
from  their  party  by  disease,  suffered  considerable  hard- 
ships and  infinite  toil. 

*'We  thought  we'd  had  a  hard  time,''  said  our  friend 
wonderingly.     '*  Lord ! " 

At  the  very  start  of  the  journey  they  had  begun  to 
realize  that  they  were  overloaded,  and  had  commenced  to 
throw  away  superfluous  goods.  Several  imits  of  the  party 
had  even  to  abandon  some  of  their  wagons. 

"We  chucked  everything  we  thought  we  could  get  along 
without.  I  know  we  spent  all  one  day  frying  out  bacon  to 
get  the  grease  before  we  threw  it  away.  We  used  the  grease 
for  our  axles." 

They  reached  the  head  of  the  Humboldt.  Until  this 
point  they  had  kept  together,  but  now  demoralization 
began.  They  had  been  told  at  Salt  Lake  City  that  they 
had  but  four  hundred  miles  to  go  to  Sacramento.  Now 
they  discovered  that  at  the  Humboldt  they  had  still  more 
than  that  distance  to  travel;  and  that  before  them  lay  the 
worst  desert  of  all. 

3^ 


GOLD 

"Mind  you,"  said  our  friend,  "we  had  been  travelling 
desperately.  Our  cattle  had  died  one  by  one;  and  we  had 
doubled  up  with  our  teams.  We  had  starved  for  water 
until  our  beasts  were  ready  to  drop  and  our  own  tongues 
had  swollen  in  our  mouths,  and  were  scared  —  scared,  I  tell 
you  —  scared!" 

He  moistened  his  hps  slowly,  and  went  on.  "Sometimes 
we  took  two  or  three  hours  to  go  a  mile,  relaying  back 
and  forth.  We  were  down  to  a  fine  point.  It  wasn't  a 
question  of  keeping  our  property  any  more;  it  was  a  case 
of  saving  our  lives.  We'd  abandoned  a  good  half  of  our 
wagons  already.  When  we  got  to  the  Himaboldt  and 
learned  from  a  mountain  man  going  the  other  way  that  the 
great  desert  was  still  before  us,  and  when  we  had  made  a 
day  or  two's  journey  down  the  river  toward  the  Sink,  I 
tell  you  we  lost  our  nerve  —  and  our  sense."  He  ruminated 
a  few  moments  in  silence.  "My  God!  man!"  he  cried. 
"That  trail!  From  about  halfway  down  the  river  the 
carcasses  of  horses  and  oxen  were  so  thick  that  I  believe 
if  they'd  been  laid  in  the  road  instead  of  alongside  you 
could  have  walked  the  whole  way  without  setting  foot  to 
ground!" 

And  then  the  river  disappeared  underground,  and  they 
had  to  face  the  crossing  of  the  Sink  itself. 

"That  was  a  real  desert,"  the  immigrant  told  us  som- 
brely. "There  were  long  white  fields  of  alkali  and  drifts  of 
ashes  across  them  so  soft  that  the  cattle  sank  way  to  their 
bellies.  They  moaned  and  bellowed!  Lord,  how  they 
moaned!  And  the  dust  rose  up  so  thick  you  couldn't 
breathe,  and  the  sun  beat  down  so  fierce  you  felt  it  like 

316 


THE    OVERLAND     IMMIGRANTS 

something  heavy  on  your  head.    And  how  the  place  stunk 
with  the  dead  beasts!" 

The  party's  organization  broke.  The  march  became 
a  rout.  Everybody  pushed  on  with  what  strength  he  had. 
No  man,  woman,  or  child  could  ride;  the  wagons  were 
emptied  of  everything  but  the  barest  necessities.  At 
every  stop  some  animal  fell  in  the  traces,  and  was  cut  out  of 
the  yoke.  When  a  wagon  came  to  a  stop,  it  was  abandoned, 
the  animals  detached  and  driven  forward. 

Those  who  were  still  afoot  were  constantly  besought 
by  those  who  had  been  forced  to  a  standstill. 

"I  saw  one  old  man,  his  wife  and  his  daughter,  all 
walking  along  on  foot,"  said  the  immigrant  bitterly.  * '  They 
were  half  knee  deep  in  alkali,  the  sim  was  broiling  hot, 
they  had  absolutely  nothing.  We  couldn't  help  them. 
What  earthly  chance  had  they?  I  saw  a  wagon  stalled,  the 
animals  lying  dead  in  their  yokes,  all  except  one  old  ox. 
A  woman  and  three  children  sat  inside  the  wagon.  She 
called  to  me  that  they  hadn't  had  anything  to  eat  for  three 
days,  and  begged  me  to  take  the  children.  I  couldn't. 
I  could  have  stopped  and  died  there  with  her,  but  I  couldn't 
put  another  pound  on  my  wagon  and  hope  to  get  through. 
We  were  all  walking  alongside;  even  Sue,  here." 

The  woman  raised  her  tragic  face. 

"We  left  our  baby  there,"  she  said;  and  stared  back 
again  into  the  coals  of  the  fire. 

"We  made  it,"  resumed  the  immigrant.  "We  got  to  the- 
Truckee  River  somehow,  and  we  rested  there  three  days. 
I  don't  know  what  became  of  the  rest  of  our  train;  dead 
perhaps." 

317 


GOLD 

We  told  him  of  the  immigrant  register  or  bulletin  board 
at  Morton's. 

**I  must  look  that  over,"  said  he.  "I  don't  know  how 
long  it  took  us  to  cross  the  mountains.  Those  roads  are 
terrible;  and  our  cattle  were  weak.  We  were  pretty  near 
out  of  grub  too.  Most  of  the  people  have  no  food  at  all. 
Well,  here  we  are!  But  there  are  thousands  back  of  us. 
What  are  they  going  to  do?  And  when  the  moimtains  fill 
with  snow '' 

•After  the  trio,  well  fed  for  the  first  time  in  months, 
had  turned  in,  we  sat  talking  about  our  fire.  We  were 
considerably  subdued  and  sobered;  for  this  was  the  first 
coherent  account  we  had  heard  at  first  hand.  Two  things 
impressed  us — the  tragedy,  the  futility.  The  former  aspect 
hit  us  all;  the  latter  struck  strongly  at  Old  and  Cal. 
Those  youngsters,  wise  in  the  ways  of  the  plains,  were 
filled  with  sad  surprise  over  the  incompetence  of  it  all. 

"But  thar  ain't  no  manner  of  use  in  it!"  cried  Old. 
"They  are  just  bullin'  at  it  plumb  regardless!  They 
ain't  handled  their  cattle  right!  They  ain't  picked  their 
route  right  —  why,  the  old  Mormon  trail  down  by  the 
Carson  Sink  is  better'n  that  death-trap  across  the  Hum- 
boldt. And  cut-offs!  What  license  they  all  got  chasin' 
every  fool  cut-off  reported  in?  Most  of  'em  is  all  right  f er 
pack-trains  and  all  wrong  fer  wagons!    Oh,  Lord! " 

"They  don't  know,"  said  I,  "poor  devils,  they  don't 
know.    They  were  raised  on  farms  and  in  the  cities." 

Johnny  had  said  nothing.  His  handsome  face  looked 
very  sombre  in  the  firelight. 

"Jim,"  said  he,  "we're  due  for  a  trip  to-night;  but  I 

318 


THE     OVERLAND     IMMIGRANTS 

want  you  to  promise  me  one  thing  —  just  keep  these  people: 
here,  and  feed  them  up  until  we  get  back.  Tell  them  I've 
got  a  job  for  them.    Will  you  do  it?  " 

I  tried  to  pump  Johnny  as  to  his  intentions,  but  could 
get  nothing  out  of  him;  and  so  promised  blindly.  About 
two  o'clock  I  was  roused  from  my  sleep  by  a  soft  moving 
about.  Thrusting  my  head  from  the  tent  I  made  out  the 
dim  figures  of  our  horsemen,  moimted,  and  moving  quietly 
away  down  the  trail. 


3»9 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 
THE  PRISONERS 

I  had  no  great  difficulty  in  persuading  the  immigrants 
to  rest  over. 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,"  the  narrator  confided  to  me, 
"I  don^t  know  where  we're  going.  We  have  no  money, 
We Ve  got  to  get  work  somehow.  I  don't  know  now  why  we 
came." 

His  name,  he  told  me,  was  George  Woodruff;  he  had 
been  a  lawyer  in  a  small  Pennsylvania  town;  his  total 
possessions  were  now  represented  by  the  remains  of  his  ox 
team,  his  wagon,  and  the  blankets  in  which  he  slept. 
The  other  man  was  his  brother  Albert,  and  the  woman  his 
sister-in-law. 

"We  started  with  four  wagons  and  a  fine  fit-out  of 
supplies,"  he  told  me  —  "food  enough  to  last  two  years. 
This  is  what  we  have  left.  The  cattle  aren't  in  bad  shape 
210W  though;  and  they  are  extra  fine  stock.  Perhaps 
I  can  sell  them  for  a  little." 

Two  days  passed.  We  arose  the  morning  of  the  third 
to  find  that  the  oxen  had  strayed  away  during  the  night. 
Deciding  they  could  not  have  wandered  far,  I  went  to  my 
gold  washing  as  usual,  leaving  Woodruff  and  his  brother 
to  hunt  them  up.  About  ten  o'clock  they  came  to  my 
claim  very  much  troubled. 

$J0 


THE    PRISONERS 

"We  can't  find  them  anywhere,"  they  told  me,  "and  it 
doesn't  seem  natural  that  they  should  stray  far;  they  are 
too  tired." 

I  knocked  off  work,  and  returned  with  them  to  the  flat, 
where  we  proceeded  to  look  for  tracks.  The  earth  was 
too  hard  and  tramped  to  show  us  much,  and  after  a  half 
hour  of  fruitless  examination  we  returned  to  camp  with  the 
intention  of  eating  something  before  starting  out  on  a 
serious  search.  While  thus  engaged  the  express  messengers 
rode  up. 

"Hullo!"  said  Johnny  cheerfully.  "Glad  to  hear  you 
made  such  a  good  thing  out  of  your  cattle!" 

He  caught  our  stare  of  surprise,  swung  from  his  horse 
and  advanced  on  us  with  three  swift  strides. 

"You  haven't  sold  them?  "  he  exclaimed. 

" WeVe  been  looking  for  them  all  the  morning." 

"Stolen,  boys!"  he  cried  to  his  companions.  "Here's 
our  job!    Come  on!" 

He  leaped  on  his  horse  in  the  headlong,  graceful  fashion 
the  boys  had  cultivated  at  the  relay  station,  and,  followed 
by  Cal  and  Old,  dashed  away. 

We  made  nothing  definite  of  this,  though  we  had  our 
surmises  to  exchange.  As  the  boys  had  not  returned  an 
hour  later,  I  resumed  my  digging  while  the  Woodruffs  went 
over  to  visit  with  Yank,  who  was  now  out  of  bed.  Evening 
came,  with  no  sign  of  our  friends.    We  turned  in  at  last. 

Some  time  after  midnight  we  were  awakened  by  the 
shuffling  and  lowing  of  driven  cattle,  and  went  out  into  the 
moonlight  to  see  our  six  oxen,  just  released  from  herding, 
plunging  their  noses  thirstily  into  the  little  stream  from  the 

321 


GOLD 

spring.  Five  figures  on  horseback  sat  motionless  in  the 
background  behind  them.  When  the  cattle  had  finished 
drinking,  the  horsemen,  riding  in  two  couples  and  one  single, 
turned  them  into  the  flat,  and  then  came  over  to  our  camp. 

After  they  had  approached  within  plain  sight  we  saw 
that  the  single  horseman  was  Cal  Marsh;  and  that  Johnny 
and  Old  each  led  an  animal  on  which  a  man  was  tied,  his 
arms  behind  him,  his  feet  shackled  beneath  the  horse's 
barrel. 

"Here,  you  fellows,"  said  Johnny  in  a  low  voice,  "just 
catch  hold  here  and  help  with  these  birds.'' 

The  three  descended  rather  wearily  from  their  horses, 
the  lead  lines  of  which  Cal  held  while  the  rest  imshackled 
the  prisoners  and  helped  them  to  dismount.  They  were 
both  known  to  me,  one  as  the  big  desperado,  Malone;  and 
the  other  as  the  barkeeper  at  Morton's  place,  our  old  friend 
of  Chagres  days.  The  latter's  head  was  roughly  boimd  with 
a  bloody  cloth.  Under  Johnny's  direction  we  tied  them 
firmly.  He  issued  his  orders  in  a  low-voiced,  curt  fashion 
that  precluded  anything  but  the  most  instant  and  silent 
obedience. 

"There,"  said  he  at  last,  "they'll  do.  Chuck  them 
inside  where  they'll  be  out  of  sight.  Now  about  those  two 
horses " 

"I'll  just  run  'em  up  to  the  Dutchman's  Flat  and  stake 
'em  out  thar,"  interposed  Old.  "Thar  ain't  no  one  thar; 
and  they  won't  be  discovered." 

"Well,"  conceded  Johnny,  "if  your  horse  isn't  too  tired." 

"She'll  make  it,"  replied  Old  confidently. 

"Now  for  our  horses,"  said  Johnny.    "Won't  do  to  be 

322 


THE     PRISONERS 

getting  in  at  this  time  of  night.  It  doesn^t  look  natural. 
Don't  believe  we  can  get  them  to  the  stable  without  being 
spotted.  Maybe  you'd  better  stake  them  up  there  too 
Can  you  walk  back?  " 

"I  reckon,"  said  Old. 

He  tied  the  four  led  horses  together,  mounted,  took  the 
lead  rope  from  Cal,  and  rode  off  up  the  gulch. 

Cal  came  to  the  fire  and  sat  down.  I  was  instantly  struck 
by  his  ghastly  appearance. 

"  Cal's  bored  through  the  shoulder,"  Johnny  explained. 
"Now,  Jim,  you've  got  to  go  up  and  get  Dr.  Rankin. 
He  lives  at  Barnes's  hotel,  you  know.  Barnes  is  all  right; 
bring  him  down,  too,  if  you  happen  to  wake  him  up.  Go 
around  to  Danny  Randall's  quietly  and  tell  him  we  want 
to  see  him.  He  sleeps  in  that  little  back  room.  Throw 
some  pebbles  against  the  stovepipe;  that'll  wake  him  up. 
Look  out  he  doesn't  pot  you.  Don't  let  anybody  see  you 
if  you  can  possibly  help;  and  tell  the  others  to  slip  out  here 
quietly,  too.    Do  you  understand  all  that?  " 

"I  see  what  I'm  to  do,"  I  assented;  "but  let  me  in! 
What's  it  all  about?" 

"We  met  these  men  and  three  others  driving  Woodruff's 
oxen  this  morning,"  said  Johnny  rapidly.  "Stopped  and 
had  quite  a  chat  with  them.  They  told  what  sounded  like 
a  straight  story  of  having  bought  the  oxen.  I  knew 
Woodruff  wanted  to  sell.  Didn't  suppose  they'd  have  the 
nerve  to  lift  them  right  under  our  noses.  Guess  they 
hadn't  an  idea  they'd  meet  us  on  the  road.  We  were 
taking  the  lower  trail  just  for  a  change.  So  as  soon  as  we 
got  the  news  from  you,  we  went  back,  of  course.    They 

3«S 


GOLD 

suspected  trouble,  and  had  turned  off.  Old  and  Cal  are 
wonders  at  trailing.  Came  up  with  them  just  beyond 
Bitter  Water,  and  monkeyed  around  quite  a  while  before 
we  got  a  favourable  chance  to  tackle  them.  ,  Then  we  took 
the  cattle  away  and  brought  back  these  birds.  That's 
all  there  was  to  it." 

^*  You  said  five.    Where  are  the  other  three?  " 

"Killed  'em,"  said  Johnny  briefly.  "Now  run  along 
and  do  your  job." 

After  some  delay  and  difficulty  I  fulfilled  my  instructions, 
returning  at  last  in  company  with  Danny  Randall,  to  find 
my  friends  sitting  around  the  little  fire,  and  Dr.  Rankin 
engaged  in  bathing  CaFs  wound.  Johnny  was  repeating 
his  story,  to  which  the  others  were  listening  atten- 
tively. 

"I  learned  a  little  more  of  this  sort  of  thing  in  Sac- 
ramento," he  was  concluding.  "And  I'd  like  to  state 
this  right  here  and  now :  practical  jokes  on  these  immigrants 
are  poor  taste  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  from  now  on. 
That's  my  own  private  declaration  of  war." 

"Let's  take  a  look  at  your  birds,  Johnny,"  suggested 
Randall. 

I  brought  out  the  prisoners  and  stacked  them  up  against 
the  trees.    They  gave  us  back  look  for  look  defiantly. 

"You  won't  live  a  week  after  this,"  said  the  Morton 
man,  whose  name  was  Carhart,  addressing  Johnny. 

"I'll  just  have  a  look  at  your  head,  my  friend,"  said 
Dr.  Rankin. 

The  man  bent  his  head,  and  the  doctor  began  to  remove 
the  bloody  bandages. 

3H 


THE    PRISONERS 

"Question  is,"  said  Johnny,  "what  do  we  do  with  them? ** 

Danny  was  thinking  hard. 

"One  of  two  things,"  said  he  at  length:  "We  can  string 
them  up  quietly,  and  leave  them  as  a  warning;  or  we  can 
force  matters  to  a  showdown  by  calling  a  public  meeting." 

"Question  is,"  said  I,  "whether  we  can  get  anybody  with 
nerve  enough  to  serve  as  ojQ&cers  of  court,  or,  indeed,  to 
testify  as  witnesses." 

"You  said  a  true  word  there,"  put  in  Carhart  with  an 
oath. 

"I'll  bear  witness  for  one,"  offered  Dr.  Rankin,  looking 
up  from  his  work,  "and  on  a  good  many  things." 

"Look  out,  damn  you!"  muttered  Carhart. 

"IVe  been  called  to  a  good  many  cases  of  gunshot 
wounds,"  continued  the  doctor  steadily,  "and  IVe  kept 
quiet  because  I  was  given  to  understand  that  my  life  was 
worth  nothing  if  I  spoke." 

"You'd  better  keep  your  mouth  shut!"  warned  the 
bandit. 

"Now,"  pursued  the  doctor,  "I  personally  believe  the 
time  has  come  to  assert  ourselves.  I'm  in  favour  of  serving 
notice  on  the  whole  lot,  and  cleaning  up  the  mess  once 
and  for  all.  I  believe  there  are  more  decent  men  than 
criminals  in  this  camp,  if  you  get  them  together." 

"That's  my  idea,"  agreed  Johnny  heartily.  "Get  the 
camp  together;  I'll  see  every  man  in  it  and  let  Woodruff 
tell  his  tale,  and  then  let  Old  or  me  tell  ours." 

"And  I'll  tell  mine,"  said  Dr.  Rankin. 

Danny  Randall  shook  his  head. 

"They'll  rise  to  it  like  men!"  cried  Johnny  indignantly. 

325 


GOLD 

*^  Nobody  but  a  murderer  and  cattle  thief  listening  to  that 
story  could  remain  unmoved." 

"Well,"  said  Danny,  *'if  you  won't  just  quietly  hang 
these  fellows  right  now,  try  the  other.  I  should  string 
'em  up  and  shut  their  mouths.  You're  too  early;  it 
won't  do." 


$a6 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
THE  TRIAL 

The  meeting  took  place  in  the  Bella  Union,  and  the 
place  was  crowded  to  the  doors.  All  the  roughs  in  town 
were  on  hand,  fully  armed,  swearing,  swaggering,  and 
brandishing  their  weapons.  They  had  much  to  say  by 
way  of  threat,  for  they  did  not  hesitate  to  show  their 
sympathies.  As  I  looked  upon  their  unexpected  numbers 
and  listened  to  their  wild  talk,  I  must  confess  that  my  heart 
failed  me.  Though  they  had  not  the  advantage  in  numbers, 
they  knew  each  other;  were  prepared  to  work  together; 
were,  in  general,  desperately  courageous  and  reckless, 
and  imbued  with  the  greatest  confidence.  The  decent 
miners,  on  the  other  hand,  were  practically  unknown  to 
each  other;  and,  while  brave  enough  and  hardy  enough^ 
possessed  neither  the  recklessness  nor  desperation  of  the 
others.  I  think  our  main  weakness  sprang  from  the 
selfish  detachment  that  had  prevented  us  from  knowing 
whom  to  trust. 

After  preliminary  organization  a  wrangle  at  once  began 
as  to  the  form  of  the  trial.  We  held  very  strongly  that 
we  should  continue  our  usual  custom  of  open  meeting;  but 
Morton  insisted  with  equal  vehemence  that  the  prisoners 
should  have  jury  trial.  The  discussion  grew  very  hot  and 
confused.    Pistols  and  knives  were  flourished.    The  chair 

327 


GOLD 

put  the  matter  to  a  vote,  but  was  unable  to  decide  from  the 
yells  and  howls  that  answered  the  question  which  side  had 
the  preponderance.    A  rising  vote  was  demanded. 

"Won't  they  attempt  a  rescue?"  I  asked  of  Danny 
Randall,  under  cover  of  the  pandemonium.  "They  could 
easily  fight  their  way  free." 

He  shook  his  head. 

"That  would  mean  outlawing  themselves.  They  would 
rather  get  clear  under  some  show  of  law.  Then  they  figure 
to  run  the  camp." 

The  vote  was  understood  to  fayour  a  jury  tnal. 

"That  settles  it,"  said  Danny;  "the  poor  damn  fools." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  I  asked  him. 

"You'll  see,"  said  he. 

In  the  selection  of  the  jury  we  had  the  advantage.  None 
of  the  roughs  could  get  on  the  panel  to  hang  the  verdict, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  they  were  all  too  well  known. 
The  miners  cautiously  refused  to  endorse  any  one  whose 
general  respectability  was  not  known  to  them.  I  found 
myself  one  of  those  selected. 

A  slight  barrier  consisting  of  a  pole  thrown  across 
one  comer  of  the  room  set  aside  a  jury  box.  We  took 
our  places  therein.  Men  crowded  to  the  pole,  talking 
for  our  benefit,  cursing  steadily,  and  uttering  the  most 
frightful  threats. 

I  am  not  going  to  describe  that  most  turbulent  after- 
noon. The  details  are  unessential  to  the  main  point, 
which  was  our  decision.  Counsel  was  appointed  by  the 
court  from  among  the  numerous  ex-lawyers.  The  man  who 
took  charge  of  the  defence  was  from  New  York,  and  had 

328 


THE    TRIAL 

served  some  ten  years  in  the  profession  before  the  gold 
fever  took  him.  I  happen  to  know  that  he  was  a  most  sober- 
minded,  steady  individual,  not  at  all  in  sympathy  with  the 
rougher  elements;  but,  like  most  of  his  ilk,  he  speedily 
became  so  intensely  interested  in  plying  his  profession  that 
he  forgot  utterly  the  justice  of  the  case.  He  defended  the 
lawless  element  with  all  the  tricks  at  his  command.  For 
that  reason  Woodruff  was  prevented  from  testifying  at  all, 
except  as  to  his  ownership  of  the  cattle;  so  that  the  effect 
of  his  pathetic  story  was  lost.  Dr.  Rankin  had  no  chance 
to  appear.  This  meeting  should  have  marked  the  awaken- 
ing of  public  spirit  to  law  and  order;  and  if  all  the  elements 
of  the  case  had  been  allowed  to  come  before  the  decent  part 
of  the  community  in  a  common-sense  fashion,  I  ^am  quite 
sure  it  would  have  done  so.  But  two  lawyers  got  interested 
in  tangling  each  other  up  with  their  technicalities,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  real  significance  of  the  occasion  was 
lost  to  sight.  The  lawyer  for  the  defence,  pink  and  warm 
and  happy,  sat  down  quite  pleased  with  his  adroitness.  A 
few  of  us,  and  the  desperadoes,  alone  realized  what  it  all 
meant. 

We  retired  to  Randall's  little  room  to  deliberate.  Not 
a  man  of  the  twelve  of  us  had  the  first  doubt  as  to  the 
guilt  of  the  prisoners.  We  took  a  ballot.  The  result 
was  eleven  for  acquittal  and  one  for  conviction.  I  had 
cast  the  one  vote  for  conviction. 

We  argued  the?  matter  for  three  hours 

"There's  no  doubt  the  men  are  guilty,"  said  one.  "That 
isn't  the  question.  The  question  is,  dare  we  declare 
it?" 

329 


GOLD 

"It  amounts  to  announcing  our  own  death  sentence," 
argued  another.  "Those  fellows  would  stand  together, 
but  who  of  the  lot  would  stand  by  us?  Why,  we  don't  even 
know  for  sure  who  would  be  with  us.'' 

"This  case  ought  never  to  have  been  tried  by  a  jury," 
complained  a  third  bitterly.  "It  ought  to  have  been  tried 
in  a  miners'  court;  and  if  it  hadn't  been  for  those  soft 
heads  who  were  strong  for  doing  things  'regularly'  instead 
of  sensibly,  we'd  have  had  it  done  that  way." 

"Well,"  said  an  older  man  gravely,  "I  agree  to  that. 
I  am  going  to  be  governed  in  my  decision  not  by  the  merits 
of  the  case,  but  by  the  fact  that  I  have  a  family  back  in 
the  States.  I  consider  my  obligations  to  them  greater 
than  to  this  community." 

I  reasoned  with  them  for  a  long  time,  bringing  to  bear 
all  the  arguments  I  had  heard  advanced  at  various  times 
during  our  discussions  in  Danny  Randall's  back  room. 
At  last,  seeing  I  could  in  no  manner  shake  their  resolution, 
I  gave  in.  After  all,  I  could  not  blame  them.  The  case 
was  to  them  only  one  of  cattle  stealing;  they  had  no  chance 
to  realize  that  it  was  anything  more.  Without  solicita- 
tion on  my  part  they  agreed  to  keep  secret  my  opposition 
to  the  verdict  of  acquittal. 

Our  decision  was  greeted  by  wild  yells  and  the  dis- 
charge of  pistols  on  the  part  of  the  rough  element.  The 
meeting  broke  up  informally  and  in  confusion.  It  would 
have  been  useless  for  the  presiding  officer  to  have  attempted 
to  dismiss  court.  The  mob  broke  through  en  masse  to 
congratulate  the  prisoners.  Immediately  the  barkeepers 
were  overwhelmed  with  work.    Here  and  there  I  could  see 

330 


THE     TRIAL 

a  small  group  of  the  honest  men  talking  low-voiced, 
with  many  shakes  of  the  head.  Johnny,  Old,  and  Cal, 
who  had  attended  with  his  arm  slung  up,  had  their  heads 
together  in  a  corner.  Danny  Randall,  who,  it  will  be 
remembered,  had  not  appeared  publicly  in  any  way,  stood 
at  his  customary  corner  of  the  bar  watching  all  that  was 
going  on.  His  gamblers  were  preparing  to  reopen  the 
suspended  games. 

After  conferring  together  a  moment  the  three  express 
messengers  made  their  way  slowly  across  the  room  to  the 
bar.  I  could  not  see  exactly  what  happened,  but  heard 
the  sudden  reverberations  of  several  pistol  shots.  The 
lamps  and  glasses  rattled  with  the  concussion,  the  white 
smoke  of  the  discharges  eddied  and  rose.  An  immediate 
dead  silence  fell,  except  for  the  sounds  made  by  the  move- 
ments of  those  seeking  safe  places.  Johnny  and  his  two 
friends  shoulder  to  shoulder  backed  slowly  away  toward 
the  door.  Johnny  and  Old  presented  each  two  pistols  at 
the  group  around  the  bar,  while  Cal,  a  revolver  in  his 
well  hand,  swept  the  muzzle  slowly  from  side  to  side. 
Nobody  near  the  bar  stirred.  The  express  messengers 
backed  to  the  door. 

"Keep  your  heads  inside/'  warned  Johnny  clearly. 
On  the  words  they  vanished. 

Immediately  pandemonium  broke  loose.  The  men 
along  the  bar  immediately  became  very  warlike;  but  none 
of  those  who  brandished  pistols  tried  to  leave  the  building. 
From  the  swing  and  sway  of  the  crowd,  and  the  babel  of 
yells,  oaths,  threats,  and  explanations  I  could  make  nothing. 
Danny  Randall  alone  of  all  those  in  the  room  held  his  posi- 


GOLD 

tion  unmoved.  At  last  a  clear  way  offered,  so  I  went  over 
to  him. 

"  What's  happened?  "  I  shouted  at  him  through  the  din. 

Danny  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"They  killed  Carhart  and  Malone,"  Danny  replied  curtly. 

It  seemed,  I  ascertained  at  last,  that  the  three  had 
advanced  and  opened  fire  on  the  two  ex-prisoners  without 
warning. 

As  soon  as  possible  I  made  my  escape  and  returned  to  our 
own  camp.  There  I  found  the  three  of  them  seated 
smoking,  their  horses  all  saddled,  standing  near  at  hand. 

"Are  they  coming  our  way?  *'  asked  Johnny  instantly. 

I  told  them  that  I  had  seen  no  indications  of  a  mob. 

"But  why  did  you  do  it?"  I  cried.  "It's  an  open 
challenge !    They'll  get  you  boys  now  sure ! " 

"That  remains  to  be  seen,"  said  Johnny  grimly.  "But 
it  was  the  only  thing  to  do.  If  Carhart  and  Malone  had 
ever  been  given  time  to  report  on  our  confab  the  other 
evening,  you  and  Danny  Randall  and  Dr.  Rankin  would 
have  been  marked  men.  Now  no  one  knows  of  your  con- 
nection with  this  matter." 

"But  they'll  be  after  you " 

"They  were  after  us  in  any  case,"  Johnny  pointed  out. 
"Don't  deceive  yourself  there.  Now  you  keep  out  of  this 
and  let  us  do  it." 

"I  reckon  we  can  handle  this  bunch,"  said  Old. 

"Lord!  what  a  lot  of  jellyfish!"  cried  Johnny  disgustedly. 
"Danny  was  right  enough  about  them.  But  let  me  state 
right  here  and  once  again  that  practical  jokes  on  immigrants 
are  going  to  be  mighty  unhealthy  here." 

332 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 
THE  RULE  OF  THE  LAWLESS 

No  concerted  attempt  was  made  by  the  roughs  to  avenge 
the  execution  of  their  comrades.  Whether  they  real- 
ized that  such  an  attempt  would  be  likely  to  soHdify  the 
decent  element,  or  whether  that  sort  of  warfare  was  not 
their  habit,  the  afternoon  and  night  wore  away  without 
trouble. 

"Danger's  over,"  announced  Johnny  the  following 
morning." 

*^What  next?"  I  asked. 

"We'll  go  up  to  town,"  said  Johnny. 

This  they  proceeded  to  do,  negativing  absolutely  my 
desire  to  accompany  them. 

"You  stay  out  of  this,"  said  Johnny.  "Go  and  wash 
gold  as  usual." 

I  was  immensely  relieved  that  afternoon  when  they 
returned  safe  and  soimd.  Afterward  I  heard  that  they 
had  coolly  visited  every  saloon  and  gambling  place,  had 
stopped  in  each  to  chat  with  the  barkeepers  and  gamblers, 
had  spent  the  morning  seated  outside  the  Bella  Union,  and 
had  been  in  no  manner  molested. 

"They'll  be  all  right  as  long  as  they  stick  together 
and  keep  in  the  open,"  Yank  assured  me.  "That  gang 
will  sooner  assassinate  than  fight." 

333 


GOLD 

Although  for  the  moment  held  in  check  by  the  resolute 
front  presented  by  these  three  boys,  the  rough  element 
showed  that  it  considered  it  had  won  a  great  victory,  and 
was  now  entitled  to  run  the  town.  Members  of  the  gang 
selected  what  goods  they  needed  at  any  of  the  stores, 
making  no  pretence  of  payment.  They  swaggered  boldly 
about  the  streets  at  all  times,  infested  the  better  places 
such  as  the  Bella  Union,  elbowed  aside  insolently  any  in- 
offensive citizen  who  might  be  in  their  way,  and  generally 
conducted  themselves  as  though  they  owned  the  place. 
Robberies  grew  more  frequent.  The  freighters  were  held 
up  in  broad  daylight;  rumoiirs  of  returning  miners  being 
relieved  of  their  dust  drifted  up  from  the  lower  country; 
mysterious  disappearances  increased  in  number.  Hardly 
an  attempt  was  made  to  conceal  the  fact  that  the  organized 
gang  that  conducted  these  operations  had  its  headquarters 
at  Italian  Bar.  Strange  men  rode  up  in  broad  daylight, 
covered  with  red  dust,  to  confer  with  Morton  or  one  of  the 
other  resident  blackguards.  Mysteriously  every  desperado 
in  the  place  began  to  lay  fifty-dollar  octagonal  slugs  on  the 
gaming  tables,  product  of  some  lower  country  atrocity. 

The  camp  soon  had  a  concrete  illustration  of  the  opinion 
the  roughs  held  of  themselves.  It  was  reported  quietly 
among  a  few  of  us  that  several  of  our  number  had  been 
"marked"  by  the  desperadoes.  Two  of  these  were  Joe 
Thompson,  who  had  acted  as  counsel  for  the  prosecution 
in  the  late  trial,  and  Tom  Cleveland,  who  had  presided,  and 
presided  well,  over  the  court.  Thompson  kept  one  of  the 
stores,  while  Cleveland  was  proprietor  of  the  butcher  shop. 
No  overt  threats  were  made,  but  we  understood  that  some- 


THE    RULE    OF    THE    LAWLESS 

how  these  men  were  to  be  put  out  of  the  way.  Of  course 
they  were  at  once  warned. 

The  human  mind  is  certainly  a  queer  piece  of  mechanism. 
It  would  seem  that  the  most  natural  thing  to  have  done,  in 
the  circumstances,  would  have  been  to  dog  these  men's 
footsteps  until  an  opportunity  offered  to  assassinate  them 
quietly.  That  is  just  what  would  have  been  done  had  the 
intended  victims  been  less  prominently  in  the  public  eye. 
The  murder  of  court  officials,  however,  was  a  very  different 
matter  from  the  finding  of  an  unknown  miner  dead  in  his 
camp  or  along  the  trail.  In  the  former  case  there  could  be 
no  manner  of  doubt  as  to  the  perpetrators  of  the  deed  — 
the  animus  was  too  directly  to  be  traced.  And  it  is  a 
matter  for  curious  remark  that  in  all  early  history,  whether 
of  California  in  the  forties,  or  of  Montana  in  the  bloodiet 
sixties, 'the  desperadoes,  no  matter  how  strong  they  felt 
themselves  or  how  arrogantly  they  ran  the  community, 
nevertheless  must  have  felt  a  great  uncertainty  as  to  the 
actual  power  of  the  decent  element.  This  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  they  never  worked  openly.  Though  the 
identity  of  each  of  them  as  a  robber  and  cut-throat  was  a 
matter  of  common  knowledge,  so  that  any  miner  could 
have  made  out  a  list  of  the  members  of  any  band,  the  fact 
was  never  formally  admitted.  And  as  long  as  it  was  not 
admitted,  and  as  long  as  actual  hard  proof  was  lacking, 
it  seemed  to  be  part  of  the  game  that  nothing  could  be 
done.  Moral  certainties  did  not  count  until  some  series 
of  outrages  resulted  in  mob  action. 

Now  consider  this  situation,  which  seemed  to  me  then 
as  it  seems  to  me  now,  most  absurd  in  every  way-    Nobody 

335 


GOLD 

else  considered  it  so.  Everybody  knew  that  the  rough  ele- 
ment was  out  to  "get"  Thompson  and  Cleveland.  Every- 
body, including  both  Thompson  and  Cleveland  themselves, 
was  pretty  certain  that  they  would  not  be  quietly  assassi- 
nated, the  argument  in  that  case  being  that  the  deed  would 
be  too  apt  to  raise  the  community.  Therefore  it  was  pretty 
well  understood  that  some  sort  of  a  quarrel  or  personal 
encounter  would  be  used  as  an  excuse.  Personally  I  could 
not  see  that  that  would  make  much  essential  difference;  but, 
as  I  said,  the  human  mind  is  a  curious  piece  of  mechanism. 

Among  the  occasional  visitors  to  the  camp  was  a  man  who 
called  himself  Harry  Crawford.  He  was  a  man  of  perhaps 
twenty-five  years,  tall,  rather  slender,  with  a  clear  face 
and  laughing  blue  eyes.  Nothing  in  his  appearance  in- 
dicated the  desperado;  and  yet  we  had  long  known  him  as 
one  of  the  Morton  gang.  This  man  now  took  up  his 
residence  in  camp;  and  we  soon  discovered  that  he  was 
evidently  the  killer.  The  first  afternoon  he  picked  some 
sort  of  a  petty  quarrel  with  Thompson  over  a  purchase,  but 
cooled  down  instantly  when  unexpectedly  confronted  by 
a  half  dozen  miners  who  came  in  at  the  opportime  moment. 
A  few  days  afterward  in  the  slack  time  of  the  afternoon 
Thompson,  while  drinking  at  the  bar  of  the  Empire  and 
conversing  with  a  friend,  was  approached  by  a  well- 
known  sodden  hanger-on  of  the  saloons. 

"What  'n  hell  you  fellows  talking  about?"  demanded 
this  man  impudently. 

"None  of  your  business,"  replied  Thompson  impatiently, 
for  the  man  was  a  public  nuisance,  and  besides  was  deep  in 
Thompson's  debt. 

^6 


f 


THE    RULE    OF    THE    LAWLESS 

The  man  broke  into  foul  oaths. 

''I'll  dare  you  to  fight!"  he  cried  in  a  furious  passion. 

Facing  about,  Thompson  saw  Crawford  standing  at- 
tentively among  the  listeners,  and  instantly  comprehended 
the  situation. 

"You  have  the  odds  of  me  with  a  pistol,"  said  Thompson, 
who  notoriously  had  no  skill  with  that  weapon.  "Why 
should  I  fight  you?  " 

"Well,  then,"  cried  the  man,  "put  up  your  fists;  that'll 
show  who  is  the  best  man! " 

He  snatched  off  his  belt  and  laid  it  on  the  bar.  Thomp- 
son did  the  same. 

"Come  on!"  cried  the  challenger,  backing  away. 

Thompson,  thoroughly  angry,  reached  over  and  slapped 
his  antagonist.  The  latter  promptly  drew  another  revolver 
from  beneath  his  coat,  but  before  he  could  aim  it  Thompson 
jumped  at  his  throat  and  disarmed  him.  At  this  moment 
Crawford  interfered,  apparently  as  peacemaker.  Thomp- 
son was  later  told  secretly  by  the  barkeeper  that  the  scheme 
was  to  lure  him  into  a  pistol  fight  in  the  street,  when 
Crawford  would  be  ready  to  shoot  him  as  soon  as  the  first 
shot  was  fired. 

On  the  strength  of  his  interference  Crawford  next 
pretended  to  friendship,  and  spent  much  of  his  time  at 
Thompson's  store.  Thompson  was  in  no  way  deceived. 
This  state  of  affairs  continued  for  two  days.  It  terminated 
in  the  following  manner:  Crawford,  sitting  half  on  the 
counter,  and  talking  with  all  the  great  charm  of  which  he 
was  master,  led  the  subject  to  weapons. 

"  This  revolver  of  mine,"  said  he,  at  the  same  time  drawing 

337 


GOLD 

the  weapon  from  its  holster,  "is  one  of  the  did  navy 
model.  You  don't  often  see  them  nowadays.  It  has 
a  double  lock."  He  cocked  it  as  though  to  illustrate  his 
point,  and  the  muzzle,  as  though  by  accident,  swept  toward 
the  other  man.  He  looked  up  from  his  affected  close 
examination  to  find  that  Thompson  had  also  drawn  his 
weapon  and  that  the  barrel  was  pointing  uncompromisingly 
in  his  direction. 

For  a  moment  the  two  stared  each  other  in  the  eye. 
Then  Crawford  sheathed  his  pistol  with  an  oath. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?  "  he  cried. 

"I  mean,"  said  Thompson  firmly,  "that  I  do  not  intend 
you  shall  get  the  advantage  of  me.  You  know  my  opinion 
of  you  and  your  gang.  I  shall  not  be  shot  by  any  of  you, 
if  I  can  help  it." 

Crawford  withdrew  quietly,  but  later  in  the  day  ap- 
proached a  big  group  of  us,  one  of  which  was  Thompson. 

"There's  a  matter  between  you  and  me  has  got  to  be 
settled!"  he  cried. 

"Well,  I  can't  imagine  what  it  is,"  replied  Thompson. 
"I'm  not  aware  that  I've  said  or  done  anything  to  you 
that  needs  settlement." 

\"You  needn't  laugh!"  replied  Crawford,  with  a  string  of 
insulting  oaths.  "You're  a  coward;  and  if  you're  anything 
of  a  man  you  will  step  out  of  doors  and  have  this  out." 

"I  am,  as  you  say,  a  coward,"  replied  Thompson  quietly, 
^and  I  see  no  reason  for  going  out  of  doors  to  fight  you  or 
anybody  else." 

After  blustering  and  swearing  for  a  few  moments  Craw- 
ford withdrew.     He  made  no  attempt  to  fight,  nor  do  I 

338 


THE    RULE    OF    THE    LAWLESS 

believe  his  outburst  had  any  other  purpose  than  to  establish 
the  purely  personal  character  of  the  quarrel  between 
Thompson  and  himself.  At  any  rate,  Thompson  was  next 
morning  found  murdered  in  his  bunk,  while  Crawford  had 
disappeared.  I  do  not  know  whether  Crawford  had  killed 
him  or  not;  I  think  not. 

About  this  time  formal  printed  notices  of  some  sort 
of  election  were  posted  on  the  bulletin  board  at  Morton's 
place.  At  least  they  were  said  to  have  been  posted,  and 
were  pointed  out  to  all  comers  the  day  after  election. 
Perhaps  they  were  there  all  the  time,  as  claimed,  but  nobody 
paid  much  attention  to  them.  At  any  rate,  we  one  day 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  we  were  a  full-fledged  community, 
with  regularly  constituted  court  officers,  duly  qualified 
officials,  and  a  sheriff.  The  sheriff  was  Morton,  and  the 
most  worthy  judges  were  other  members  of  his  gang! 

This  move  tickled  Danny  Randall's  sense  of  humoui 
immensely. 

** That's  good  head  work,"  he  said  approvingly.  "I 
didn't  think  Morton  had  it  in  him.'' 

"It's  time  something  was  done  to  run  that  gang  out 
of  town,"  fumed  Dr.  Rankin. 

"No;  it  is  not  time,"  denied  Danny,  "any  more  than  it 
was  time  when  you  and  Johnny  and  the  rest  of  you  had 
your  celebrated  jury  trial." 

"I'd  like  to  know  what  you  are  driving  at!"  fretted  the 
worthy  doctor. 

Danny  Randall  laughed  in  his  gentle  little  fashion. 
I  will  confess  that  just  at  that  time  I  was  very  decidedly 
wondering  what  Danny   Randall  was   at.     In  fact,  at 

339 


GOLD 

moments.  I  was  strongly  inclined  to  doubt  his  affiliations. 
He  seemed  to  stand  in  an  absolutely  neutral  position, 
inclining  to  neither  side. 

Tom  Cleveland  was  killed  in  the  open  street  by  one  of 
the  Empire  hangers-on.  The  man  was  promptly  arrested 
by  Morton  in  his  capacity  of  sheriff,  and  confined  in  chains. 
Morton,  as  sheriff,  selected  those  who  were  to  serve  on 
the  jury.  I  had  the  curiosity  to  attend  the  trial,  expecting 
to  assist  at  an  uproarious  farce.  All  the  proceedings,  on  the 
contrary,  were  conducted  with  the  greatest  decorum,  and 
with  minute  attention  to  legal  formalities.  The  assassin, 
however,  was  acquitted. 

From  that  time  the  outrages  increased  in  number  and 
in  boldness.  No  man  known  to  be  possessed  of  any  quan- 
tity of  gold  was  safe.  It  was  dangerous  to  walk  alone  after 
dark,  to  hunt  alone  in  the  mountains,  to  Hve  alone.  Every 
man  carried  his  treasure  about  with  him  everywhere  he 
went.  No  man  dared  raise  his  voice  in  criticism  of  the 
ruHng  powers,  for  it  was  pretty  generally  understood 
that  such  criticism  meant  death. 

It  would  be  supposed,  naturally,  by  you  in  our  modem 
and  civilized  days,  that  such  a  condition  of  affairs  would 
cast  a  fear  and  gloom  over  the  Kf e  of  the  community.  Not 
at  all.  Men  worked  and  played  and  gambled  and  drank 
and  joked  and  carried  on  the  light-hearted,  jolly  existence 
of  the  camps  just  about  the  same  as  ever.  Outside  a  few 
principals  like  Morton  and  his  immediate  satellites,  there 
was  no  accurate  demarkation  between  the  desperadoes 
and  the  miners.  Indeed,  no  one  was  ever  quite  sure  of 
where  his  next  neighbour's  sympathies  lay.    We  all  mingled 

340 


THE    RULE    OF    THE    LAWLESS 

together,  joked,  had  a  good  time  —  and  were  exceedingly 
cautious.  It  was  a  polite  community.  Personal  quarrels 
were  the  product  of  the  moment,  and  generally  settled  at 
the  moment  or  soon  after.  Enmities  were  matters  for 
individual  adjustment. 

Randall's  express  messengers  continued  to  make  their 
irregular  trips  with  the  gold  dust.  They  were  never 
attacked,  though  they  were  convinced,  and  I  think  justly, 
that  on  nimierous  occasions  they  had  only  just  escaped 
attack.  Certainly  the  sums  of  money  they  carried  were 
more  than  sufficient  temptation  to  the  bandits.  They 
knew  their  country,  however,  and  were  full  of  Indian-like 
ruses,  twists,  doublings  and  turns  which  they  employed 
with  great  gusto.  How  long  they  would  have  succeeded 
in  eluding  what  I  considered  the  inevitable,  I  do  not  know; 
but  at  this  time  occurred  the  events  that  I  shall  detail  in 
the  next  chapter. 


341 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 
THE  LAST   STRAW 

This  is  a  chapter  I  hate  to  write;  and  therefore  I  shall 
get  it  over  with  as  soon  as  possible. 

Yank  had  progressed  from  his  bunk  to  the  bench  outside, 
and  from  that  to  a  slow  hobbling  about  near  the  Morena 
cabin.  Two  of  the  three  months  demanded  by  Dr.  Rankin 
had  passed.  Yank's  leg  had  been  taken  from  the  splint^ 
and,  by  invoking  the  aid  of  stout  canes,  he  succeeded  in 
shifting  around.  But  the  trail  to  town  was  as  yet  too 
rough  for  him.  Therefore  a  number  of  us  were  in  the 
habit  of  spending  our  early  evenings  with  him.  We 
sat  around  the  door,  and  smoked  innumerable  pipes,  and 
talked  sixty  to  the  minute.  Morena  had  a  guitar  to  the 
accompaniment  of  which  he  sang  a  number  of  plaintive 
and  sweet-toned  songs.  Three  or  four  of  his  countrymen 
occasionally  came  up  from  below.  Then  they,  too,  sang 
more  plaintive  songs;  or  played  a  strange  game  with  espe- 
cial cards  which  none  of  us  "gringos"  could  ever  fathom; 
or  perhaps  stepped  a  grave,  formal  sort  of  dance.  Seiiora 
Morena,  the  only  woman,  would  sometimes  join  in  this. 
She  was  a  large  woman,  but  extraordinarily  light  on  her 
feet.  In  fact,  as  she  swayed  and  balanced  opposite  her 
partner  she  reminded  me  of  nothing  so  much  as  a  balloon 
tugging  gently  at  its  string. 

342 


THE    LAST    STRAW 

"But  it  ees  good,  the  dance,  eh,  senores?"  she  always 
ended,  her  broad,  kind  face  shining  with  pleasure. 

We  Americans  reciprocated  with  a  hoe-down  or  so,  to 
jigging  strains  blasphemously  evoked  by  one  of  our  number 
from  that  gentle  guitar;  and  perhaps  a  song  or  two.  Oh, 
Susannah!  was  revived;  and  other  old  favourites;  and 
we  had  also  the  innumerable  verses  of  a  brand-new  favourite, 
local  to  the  country.  It  had  to  do  with  the  exploits  and 
death  of  one  Lame  Jesse.    I  can  recall  only  two  of  the  many 

verses: 

"  Lame  Jesse  was  a  hard  old  case; 
He  never  would  repent. 
He  ne'er  was  known  to  miss  a  meal  — 
He  never  paid  a  cent ! 

"  Lame  Jesse,  too,  like  all  the  rest, 
He  did  to  Death  resign; 
And  in  his  bloom  went  up  the  flume 
In  the  days  of  Forty-nine." 

When  the  evening  chill  descended,  which  now  was  quite 
early,  we  scattered  to  our  various  occupations,  leaving 
Yank  to  his  rest. 

One  Sunday  in  the  middle  of  October  two  men  trudged 
into  town  leading  each  a  pack-horse. 

I  was  at  the  time  talking  to  Barnes  at  his  hotel,  and 
saw  them  from  a  distance  hitching  their  animals  outside 
Morton's.  They  stayed  there  for  some  time,  then  came 
out,  unhitched  their  horses,  led  them  as  far  as  the  Empire, 
hesitated,  finally  again  tied  the  beasts,  and  disappeared. 
In  this  manner  they  gradually  worked  along  to  the  Bella 

343 


GOLD 

Union,  where  at  last  I  recognized  them  as  McNally  and 
Buck  Barry,  our  comrades  of  the  Porcupine.  Of  course  I 
at  once  rushed  over  to  see  them. 

I  found  them  surrounded  by  a  crowd  to  whom  they  were 
offering  drinks  free-handed.  Both  were  akeady  pretty 
drunk,  but  they  knew  me  as  soon  as  I  entered  the  door,  and 
surged  toward  me  hands  out. 

"Well!  well!  well!"  cried  McNally  delightedly.  "Ancf 
here's  himself!  And  who'd  have  thought  of  seeing  you 
here!  I  made  sure  you  were  in  the  valley  and  out  of  the 
country  long  since.  And  you're  just  in  time!  Make  a 
name  for  it?  Better  call  it  whiskey  straight.  Drink  to 
us,  my  boy!  Come,  join  my  friends!  We're  all  friends 
here!  Come  on,  and  here's  to  luck,  the  best  luck  ever! 
We've  got  two  horse-loads  of  gold  out  there  —  nothing 
but  gold  —  and  it  all  came  from  our  old  diggings.  You 
ought  to  have  stayed.  We  had  no  trouble.  Bagsby  was 
an  old  fool!"  All  the  time  he  was  dragging  me  along  by 
the  arm  toward  the  crowd  at  the  bar.  Barry  maintained 
an  air  of  owUsh  gravity. 

"Where's  Missouri  Jones?"  I  inquired;  but  I  might  as 
well  have  asked  the  stone  mountains.  McNally  chattered 
on,  excited,  his  blue  eyes  dancing,  bragging  over  and  over 
about  his  two  horse-loads  of  gold. 

The  crowd  took  his  whiskey,  laughed  with  him,  and  tried 
shrewdly  to  pump  him  as  to  the  location  of  his  diggings. 
McNally  gave  them  no  satisfaction  there;  but  even  when 
most  hilarious  retained  enough  sense  to  put  them  off  the 
track. 

As  will  be  imagined,  I  was  most  uneasy  about  the 

344 


THE    LAST    STRAW 

whole  proceeding,  and  tried  quietly  to  draw  the  two 
men  off. 

"No,  sir!"  cried  McNally,  "not  any!  Jes'  struck  town, 
and  am  goin'  to  have  a  time!^^  in  which  determination  he 
was  cheered  by  all  the  bystanders.  I  did  not  know  where 
to  turn;  Johnny  was  away  on  one  of  his  trips,  and  Danny 
Randall  was  not  to  be  found.  Finally  inspiration  served 
me. 

"Come  down  first  and  see  Yank,"  I  urged.  "Poor  old 
Yank  is  crippled  and  can't  move." 

That  melted  them  at  once.  They  untied  their  long' 
suffering  animals,  and  we  staggered  off  down  the  trail. 

On  the  way  down  I  tried,  but  in  vain,  to  arouse  them  to 
a  sense  of  danger. 

"You've  let  everybody  in  town  know  you  have  a  lot  of 
dust,"  I  pointed  out. 

McNally  merely  laughed  recklessly. 

"Good  boys!"  he  cried;  "wouldn't  harm  a  fly!"  and  I 
could  veer  him  to  no  other  point  of  view.  Barry  agreed  to 
everything,  very  solemn  and  very  owlish. 

We  descended  on  Yank  like  a  storm.  I  will  say  that 
McNally  at  any  time  was  irresistible  and  irrepressible,  but 
especially  so  in  his  cups.  We  laughed  ourselves  sick  that 
afternoon.  The  Morenas  were  enchanted.  Under  in- 
structions, and  amply  supplied  with  dust,  Morefia  went  to 
town  and  returned  with  various  bottles.  Seiiora  Morefia 
cooked  a  fine  supper.  In  the  meantime,  I,  as  apparently 
the  only  responsible  member  of  the  party,  unsaddled  the 
animals,  and  brought  their  burdens  into  the  cabin.  Al- 
though McNally 's  statement  as  to  the  loads  consisting 

345 


GOLD 

exclusively  of  gold  was  somewhat  of  an  exaggeration, 
nevertheless  the  cantinas  were  very  heavy.  Not  knowing 
what  else  to  do  with  them,  I  thrust  them  under  Yank's 
bunk. 

The  evening  was  lively,  I  will  confess  it,  and  under  the 
influence  of  it  my  caution  became  hazy.  Finally,  when  I 
at  last  made  my  way  back  to  my  own  camp,  I  found  myself 
vastly  surprised  to  discover  Yank  hobbling  along  by  my 
side.  I  don't  know  why  he  came  with  me,  and  I  do  not 
think  he  knew  either.  Probably  force  of  habit.  At  any 
rate,  we  left  the  other  four  to  sleep  where  they  would. 
I  remember  we  had  some  difficulty  in  finding  places  to  lie. 

The  sun  was  high  when  we  awoke.  We  were  not  feeling 
very  (resh,  to  say  the  least;  and  we  took  some  little  time 
to  get  straightened  around.  Then  we  went  down  to  the 
Morena  cabin. 

I  am  not  going  to  dwell  on  what  we  found  there.  All 
four  of  its  inmates  had  been  killed  with  buckshot,  and  the 
place  ransacked  from  end  to  end.  Apparently  the  first 
volley  had  killed  our  former  partners  and  Senora  Morena  as 
they  lay.  Moreiia  had  staggered  to  his  feet  and  halfway 
across  the  room. 

The  excitement  caused  by  this  frightful  crime  was  intense. 
Every  man  quit  work.  A  great  crowd  assembled.  Morton 
as  sheriff  was  very  busy,  and  loud  threats  were  uttered  by 
his  satellites  as  to  the  apprehension  of  the  murderers. 
The  temper  of  the  crowd,  however,  was  sullen.  No  man 
dared  trust  his  neighbour,  and  yet  every  honest  breast 
swelled  with  impotent  indignation  at  this  wholesale  and 
unprovoked  massacre.    No  clue  was  possible.    Everybody 

346 


THE    LAST    STRAW 

remembered,  of  course,  how  broadcast  and  publicly  the 
fact  of  the  gold  had  been  scattered.  Nobodv  dared  utter 
his  suspicions,  if  he  had  any. 

The  victims  were  buried  by  a  large  concourse,  that  eddied 
and  hesitated  and  muttered  long  after  the  graves  had  been 
filled  in.  Vaguely  it  was  felt  that  the  condition  of  affairs 
was  intolerable;  but  no  one  knew  how  it  was  to  be  remedied. 
Nothing  definite  could  be  proved  against  any  one,  and  yet 
I  believe  that  every  honest  man  knew  to  a  moral  certainty 
at  least  the  captains  and  instigators  of  the  various  out- 
rages. A  leader  could  have  raised  an  avenging  mob  — 
provided  he  could  have  survived  the  necessary  ten  minutes! 

We  scattered  at  last  to  our  various  occupations.  I  was 
too  much  upset  to  work,  so  I  returned  to  where  Yank  was 
smoking  over  the  fire.  He  had,  as  near  as  I  can  remember, 
said  not  one  word  since  the  discovery  of  the  tragedy. 
On  my  approach  he  took  his  pipe  from  his  mouth. 

' '  Nothing  done?  "  he  inquired. 

" Nothing,"  I  replied.    "What  is  there  to  be  done? " 

"Don't  know,"  said  he,  replacing  his  pipe;  then  around 
the  stem  of  it,  "I  was  fond  of  those  people." 

"So  was  I,"  I  agreed  sincerely.  "Have  you  thought 
what  a  lucky  escape  you  yourself  had?  " 

Yank  nodded.  We  sat  for  a  long  time  in  silence.  My 
thoughts  turned  slowly  and  sullenly  in  a  heavy,  impotent 
anger.  A  small  bird  chirped  plaintively  from  the  thicket 
near  at  hand.  Except  for  the  tinkle  of  our  Httle  stream 
and  the  muffled  roar  of  the  distant  river,  this  was  the  only 
sound  to  strike  across  the  dead  black  silence  of  the  autumn 
night.    So  persistently  did  the  bird  utter  its  single  cail 

347 


GOLD 

that  at  last  it  aroused  even  my  downcast  attention,  so  that 
1  remarked  on  it  carelessly  to  Yank.  He  came  out  of  his 
brown  study  and  raised  his  head. 

"It's  no  bird,  it's  a  human,"  he  said,  after  listening  a 
moment.  "That's  a  signal.  Gro  see  what  it  is.  Just 
wander  out  carelessly." 

In  the  depths  of  the  thicket  I  found  a  hmnan  figure 
crouched.  It  glided  to  me,  and  I  made  out  dimly  the  squat 
form  of  Pete,  Barnes's  negro  slave,  from  the  hotel. 

"Lo'Jee,  massa,"  whispered  he,  "done  thought  you 
nevah  would  come." 

"What  is  it,  Pete?"  I  asked  in  the  same  guarded 
tones. 

"I  done  got  somefin'  to  tell  you.  While  I  ketchin'  a  HI' 
bit  of  sleep  'longside  that  white  trash  Mo 'ton's  place,  I 
done  heah  dey  all  plannin'  to  git  out  warrant  for  to  arres' 
Massa  Fairfax  and  Massa  Pine  and  Massa  Ma'sh  for 
a-killin'  dem  men  las'  week;  and  I  heah  dem  say  dey  gwine 
fer  to  gib  dem  trial,  and  if  dey  fight  dey  gwine  done  shoot 
'em." 

"That  is  serious  news,  Pete,"  said  I.  "Who  were 
talking?"  But  Pete,  who  was  already  frightened  half  to 
death,  grew  suddenly  cautious. 

"I  don'  jest  rightly  know,  sah,"  he  said  sullenly.  "I 
couldn't  tell.  Jes'  Massa  Mo'ton.  He  say  he  gwine  sw'ar 
in  good  big  posse." 

"I  can  beUeve  that,"  said  I  thoughtfully.  "Pete," 
I  turned  on  him  suddenly,  "don't  you  know  they'd  skin 
you  alive  if  they  found  out  you'd  been  here?  " 

Pete  was  shaking  violently,  and  at  my  words  a  strong 

348 


THE    LAST    STRAW 

shudder  went  through  his  frame,  and  his  teeth  struck 
faintly  together. 

"Why  did  you  do  it?'' 

"Massa  Fairfax  is  quality,  sah,"  he  replied  with  a  certain 
dignity.  "I  jest  a  pore  nigger,  but  I  knows  quality  when 
I  sees  it,  and  I  don't  aim  to  have  no  pore  white  truck  kill 
none  of  my  folks  if  I  can  help  it." 

"Pete,"  said  I,  fully  satisfied,  "you  are  a  good  fellow 
Now  get  along  back." 

He  disappeared  before  the  words  were  fairly  out  of  my 
mouth. 

"Yank,"  I  announced,  returning  to  the  fire,  "IVe  got  to 
go  uptown.  That  was  Pete,  Barnes's  nigger,  to  say  that 
they've  got  out  a  legal  warrant  for  the  express  messengers' 
arrest  for  that  killing  last  week.    Neat  little  scheme." 

I  found  Danny  Randall  in  his  accustomed  place.  At 
a  hint  he  sent  for  Dr.  Rankin.  To  the  two  I  unfolded  the 
plot.  Both  listened  in  silence  until  I  had  quite  finished. 
Then  Danny  leaped  to  his  feet  and  hit  the  table  with  hia 
closed  fist. 

"The  fools!"  he  cried.  "I  gave  them  credit  for  more 
sense.  Hit  at  Danny  Randall's  men,  will  they?  Well, 
they'll  find  that  Danny  Randall  can  protect  his  own! 
Forgotten  that  little  point,  have  they?" 

The  cool,  impassive,  mild  little  man  had  changed  utterly. 
His  teeth  bared,  the  muscles  of  his  cheeks  tightened,  two 
deep  furrows  appeared  between  his  eyes,  which  sparkled 
and  danced.  From  the  most  inoffensive  looking  creature 
possible  to  imagine  he  had  become  suddenly  menacing  and 
dangerous. 

349 


GOLD 

"  What  do  you  intend,  Randall?  "  asked  Dr.  Rankin.  He 
was  leaning  slightly  forward,  and  he  spoke  in  a  gentle  voice, 
but  his  hand  was  clenched  on  the  table,  and  his  figure  was 
rigid. 

*'Do?"  repeated  Randall  fiercely;  "why,  run  that  gang 
out  of  town,  of  course!" 

"I  thought  you  said  the  time  was  not  ripe?" 

"We'll  ripen  it!"  said  Danny  Randall. 


5S0 


CHAPTER  XXXVin 
THE  VIGH^ANTES 

Danny  Randall  issued  his  orders  as  a  general  would. 
First  he  sent  warning  word  to  Cal  Marsh,  still  nursing  his 
shoulder.  Through  one  of  his  barkeepers  he  caused  to  be 
called  to  his  presence  four  men.  Three  of  them  were 
miners,  the  fourth  a  lookout  at  the  Empire.  He  met  them 
in  his  Httle  room,  quite  openly,  which,  as  I  have  explained, 
was  in  accordance  with  his  usual  custom.  He  detailed  the 
exact  situation  in  a  few  words. 

"  Now,"  he  ended,  "we  get  busy.    Are  you  in?  " 

Each  assented,  with  apparent  deep  satisfaction. 

"Now,"  said  he  briskly,  "Munroe,  you  go  to  tne  lower 
trail,  near  the  big  oak  at  the  second  crossing.  Wait  there. 
If  the  express  messengers  have  not  passed  by  to-morrow 
morning  at  ten  o'clock,  return  here.  If  they  do  come  by, 
stop  them,  and  tell  them  to  proceed  by  the  cut-off  to  the 
place  they  know  of,  and  to  wait  there  for  me.  Under- 
stand?" 

To  each  of  the  other  four  men  he  assigned  a  different 
watching  on  other  trails,  giving  them  the  same  instructions. 

"Now  git!"  he  finished. 

After  informing  Yank  of  my  projected  absence,  I  waited 
at  the  appointed  place  untD  the  appointed  time,  then 
returned  to  the  Bella  Union. 

351 


GOLD 

"That's  all  right,"  Danny  greeted  my  report;  "they 
came  across  the  Hog's  Back,  and  are  now  safely  in  hiding. 
Here,"  he  gave  me  a  slip  of  paper.  "During  the  day 
contrive  to  see  these  men.  Make  it  casual  and  easy,  as 
though  you  just  happened  to  see  them.  Chat  a  few  minutes 
and  tell  them  this:  'Danny  Randall  calls  a  secret  miners' 
meeting  at  the  upper  horse  flat  at  nine  o'clock  to-night. 
Slip  up  there  without  being  seen.'  Be  sure  to  let  them 
understand  that  it  is  /  who  am  issuing  the  call.  Get  them 
to  tell  you  whether  they  will  or  will  not  come." 

I  took  the  slip  of  paper  and  read  over  the  half  dozen 
names  it  contained.  They  were  all  known  to  me;  so  I 
nodded  my  comprehension  and  went  out. 

All  the  rest  of  the  day  I  loafed  about,  chatting  with 
dozens  of  people,  among  the  others  with  Morton  himself 
That  individual  professed  great  zeal  for  law  and  order,  and 
told  of  the  wonderful  things  he,  as  sheriff,  intended  to 
accomplish.  Among  the  lot  I  contrived  to  include  the 
six  men  whose  names  were  on  my  paper,  and  to  deliver 
my  message.  I  explained  as  far  as  I  knew,  and  got  from 
each  a  definite  and  emphatic  promise  to  be  present. 

"It's  time  this  thing  was  brought  to  a  head,"  said 
one  man.  "If  Danny  Randall  is  taking  hold  of  it,  I 
enlist." 

I  returned  to  report  these  facts,  received  an  indifferent 
nod,  and,  under  further  instruction,  went  quietly  to  camp 
to  await  the  agreed  hour. 

We  started  up  the  trail  about  eight  o'clock.  Yank 
insisted  that  he  was  going,  if  he  had  to  roll  all  the  way; 
but  after  a  little  we  simultaneously  remembered  that  the 

3S2 


THE    VIGILANTES 

Morelias  had  owned  horses.  One  of  these  I  caught,  and  on 
it  Yank  rode  to  the  place  of  rendezvous. 

The  night  was  very  black.  After  we  had  entered  the 
woods  its  darkness  seemed  at  first  to  hang  in  front  of  my 
eyes  like  a  filmy  curtain,  so  that  I  fairly  groped,  as  one 
would  when  blindfolded.  In  the  open  a  faint  starlight 
helped  us,  but  after  we  had  entered  the  pines  we  had 
fairly  to  proceed  by  instinct.  I  remember  feeling  a  shock 
of  surprise  once,  when  we  skirted  the  river,  at  seeing  plainly 
the  whiteness  of  the  rapids,  as  though  the  water  were 
giving  off  a  light  of  its  own.  Straight  overhead  were 
scattered  patches  of  stars  with  misty  abysses  of  blackness 
between  them.  Only  after  an  interval  did  I  appreciate 
that  these  apparent  abysses  were  in  reaHty  the  tops  of  trees! 

We  felt  our  way  slowly,  the  soft  muzzle  of  the  horse  at 
my  shoulder.  Gradually  our  pupils  expanded  to  the  utmost, 
(SO  that  we  caught  ghostly  intimations  of  gray  rocks,  of 
dust  patches,  or  seized  the  loom  of  a  tree  or  the  opening  of 
a  forest  aisle.  Luckily  the  trail  was  well  marked.  We 
had  only  to  stick  to  it. 

At  the  Flat  Rock  we  were  halted  by  a  low-voiced  com- 
mand. I  gave  the  password,  as  instructed  by  Danny 
Randall.  This  experience  was  once  repeated,  a  little 
farther  on.  Then,  as  we  neared  the  upper  horse  flat,  we 
were  stopped  by  a  man  who  flashed  a  dark  lantern  in  our 
faces,  scrutinized  us  for  a  moment,  shut  off  his  light,  and 
told  us  to  go  forward. 

We  found  a  small  fire  behind  a  screen  of  firs,  and  around 
or  near  it  the  figures  of  a  dozen  men.  They  stood  silent 
and  scattered  a  little  apart  from  the  firelight.    We  could 

353 


GOLD 

not  make  out  their  features.  From  time  to  time  other  men 
came  in,  singly  or  in  couples,  until  probably  twenty- 
five  were  gathered.  Then  ensued  a  few  moments  of 
waiting.  A  sudden  stir  proclaimed  fresh  arrivals,  and  four 
newcomers  strode  briskly  to  the  fire.  As  the  light  fell 
on  them  I  recognized  Randall  and  the  three  express  riders. 

Danny  kicked  together  the  fire  until  it  flared. 

"Somebody  put  some  more  wood  on  this,"  he  said  in  his 
natural  voice.     "We've  got  to  see  each  other." 

In  a  moment  the  flames  were  leaping.  I  looked  about 
me  with  considerable  interest  to  see  who  of  the  camp  had 
been  summoned.  I  must  confess  to  a  few  surprises,  such  as 
the  gambler  from  the  Empire,  but  in  general  the  gathering 
consisted  of  those  whom  I  should  have  characterized  as 
soKd  citizens  —  Barnes,  the  hotel-keeper,  Himmelwright, 
and  men  of  his  stripe.  They  were  all  armed,  and  all  verj- 
grave  and  sober.    Danny  ran  his  eye  over  us  one  by  one. 

"Meeting  come  to  order,"  he  commanded  briskly.  "This 
is  a  Vigilante  meeting.  I  hope  you  all  realize  what  that 
means.  There  are  just  thirty  of  us  here;  and  Morton's 
gang  is  probably  a  hundred  strong  when  it  is  all  together. 
We  cannot  fight  them;  but  we  can  give  the  honest,  decent 
men  of  this  camp  a  chance  to  fight  them.  I  myself  be- 
lieve the  honest  men  will  back  us,  and  am  willing  to  risk 
it.  K  any  of  you  who  are  here  now  think  differently,  say 
so." 

He  paused,  but  no  one  spoke  up. 

"If  anybody  doesn't  want  to  go  into  this,  now  is  the  time 
to  back  out.    Just  keep  your  mouths  shut,  that  is  all.'^ 

He  paused  again,  but  again  no  one  moved. 

354 


THE    VIGILANTES 

"That's  all  right,"  observed  Danny  with  satisfaction. 
He  lifted  a  paper.  "Listen  to  this:  *We  the  undersigned 
agree,  as  we  are  decent  men,  to  stand  by  each  other  to  the 
last,  to  avenge  the  death  of  any  one  of  us,  and  to  obey  the 
orders  of  our  leaders.  And  if  we  fail  in  this  may  God  deny 
us  mercy.'  Boys,"  said  Danny  Randall  earnestly,  "this 
is  serious.  If  we  start  this  now,  we've  got  to  see  it  through. 
We  are  not  much  on  Bible  oaths,  any  one  of  us,  but  we 
must  promise.    Frank  Munroe,  step  forward!" 

I  obeyed.  The  little  man  stared  up  into  my  eyes,  and  I 
will  freely  confess  that  never  have  I  experienced  quite  the 
queer  sensation  it  gave  me.  Danny  Randall  had  become 
not  only  formidable,  but  great.  He  seemed  to  see  through 
into  the  back  of  my  mind.  I  braced  myself  as  though  to 
resist  some  strong  physical  force. 

"Do  you,  Frank  Munroe,  subscribe  to  this  document  as  a 
'man  of  honour,  so  help  you  God?"  he  demanded. 

"I  do,"  I  answered  solemnly,  and  afl&xed  my  signature 
below  that  of  Danny  Randall.  And  queerly  enough,  as  I 
stepped  aside,  I  felt  somehow  that  I  had  assisted  at  some- 
thing sacred. 

One  by  one  Daimy  Randall  called  us  forward  and  ad- 
ministered his  simple  oath.  The  fire  leaped,  and  with  it 
the  mighty  shadows.  Outside  the  circle  of  light  the  tall 
pines  and  fir-trees  watched  us  like  a  multitude  standing 
witness.  The  men's  faces  were  grave.  There  was  about 
the  roughest  of  them  something  noble,  reflected  from  the 
earnest  spirit  of  justice. 

Randall  had  the  plans  all  made,  and  he  detailed  them 
rapidly.    We  were  to  arrest  four  men  only,  and  he  named 

3$S 


GOLD 

them  —  Morton,  Scar-face  Charley,  who  had  recovered, 
a  gambler  named  Catlin,  and  Jules,  the  proprietor  of 
the  Empire. 

"  Crawford  is  back  in  town,''  said  some  one. 

''Make  it  five  then,"  said  Danny  instantly. 

We  had  a  long  discussion  over  all  this.  Many  other 
names  were  suggested.  Danny  agreed  that  they  were 
those  of  men  guilty  of  the  worst  crimes,  but  maintained 
that  the  first  thing  to  do  was  to  get  hold  of  the  real  leaders, 
the  brains  and  motive  power  of  the  gang.  The  five 
first  designated  filled  that  description. 

''Can  we  really  prove  anything  against  them?"  asked 
some  one. 

"No,"  said  Danny  instantly,  "we  cannot.  Does  any 
one  here  think  any  of  them  gidltless?  Consult  your 
consciences,  gentlemen.  I  agree  with  you  that  it  is  a 
fearful  thing  to  take  a  man's  Hfe.  Vote  carefully.  Consult 
your  consciences." 

We  balloted  at  last  on  each  name  separately,  and  the 
five  leaders  were  condemned  to  death. 

Next  came  up  the  vital  questions  of  ways  and  means. 
Many  were  in  favour  of  a  night  surprise,  and  an  immediate 
hanging  before  the  desperadoes  could  be  organized  for 
defence.  Danny  had  a  hard  time  showing  them  good 
reasons  against  this  course,  but  at  last  he  succeeded. 

"This  must  be  done  deliberately  and  publicly,"  he 
maintained.  "Otherwise  it  fails  of  its  effect.  We've  got 
to  show  the  gang  that  the  camp  is  against  them;  and  that 
won't  be  done  by  hanging  some  of  them  secretly." 

"  Suppose  the  camp  doesn't  back  us  up?  "  queried  a  miner. 

35^ 


THE    VIGILANTES 

"Remember  your  oath,  gentlemen,"  was  Danny^s  only 
reply  to  this. 

It  was  decided  at  last  that  five  committees  should  be 
appointed  to  arrest  each  of  the  five  men,  that  the  prisoners 
should  be  confined  in  a  certain  isolated  log  cabin,  and  that 
the  execution  should  take  place  in  broad  daylight.  There 
remained  only  to  apportion  the  committees.  This  was 
done,  and  at  about  two  or  three  o'clock  we  quietly  dispersed. 
I  was  instructed  to  cooperate  with  three  of  the  miners  in 
the  arrest  of  Catlin. 

With  the  members  of  my  committee  I  returned  to  our 
own  camp,  there  to  await  the  appointed  hour  of  seven. 
This  had  been  selected  for  several  reasons:  it  was  daylight, 
the  roughs  would  be  at  home,  and  the  community,  although 
afoot,  would  not  yet  have  gone  to  work.  While  waiting 
we  cooked  ourselves  some  hot  coffee  and  made  some  flap- 
jacks. The  chill,  gray  time  of  day  had  come,  the  period 
of  low  vitality,  and  we  shivered  with  the  cold  and  with 
excitement.  Nobody  had  much  to  say.  We  waited  grimly 
for  the  time  to  pass. 

About  six  o'clock  Yank  arose,  seized  his  long  rifle  and 
departed  for  the  log  cabin  that  had  been  designated  as  the 
jail.  His  lameness  had  prevented  him  from  being  appointed 
on  one  of  the  arresting  committees,  but  he  had  no  intention 
of  being  left  out.  A  half  hour  later  we  followed  him  into 
town. 

It  was  a  heavenly  fall  morning  of  the  sort  that  only 
mountain  CaHf  ornia  can  produce.  The  camp  was  beginning 
to  awaken  to  its  normal  activity.  I  remember  wondering 
vaguely  how  it  could  be  so  calm  and  unconcerned.    My 

357 


GOLD 

heart  was  beating  violently,  and  I  had  to  clench  my  teeth 
tight  to  keep  them  from  chattering.  This  wat.  not  fear, 
but  a  high  tension  of  excitement.  As  we  strolled  past 
the  Bella  Union  with  what  appearance  of  nonchalance  we 
could  muster,  Danny  Randall  nodded  at  us  from  the  door- 
way. By  this  we  knew  that  Catlin  was  to  be  found  at  his 
own  place. 


358 


WE  MARCHED  OUR  PRISONER  IN  DOUBLE-QUICK  TIME 
•      .      .      TO  THE  AGREED  RENDEZVOUS" 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
THE  VIGHANTES  {continued) 

Catlin  dwelt  in  a  detached  room  back  of  the  Empire, 
together  with  one  of  the  other  professional  gamblers.  We 
lounged  around  the  corner  of  the  Empire  building.  The 
door  of  the  cabin  was  shut.  Outside  we  hung  back, 
hesitating  and  a  little  uncertain.  None  of  us  was  by 
nature  or  training  a  man  of  violence,  and  we  experienced 
the  reluctance  of  men  about  to  plunge  into  cold  water. 
Nobody  was  more  than  pardonably  afraid,  and  of  course 
we  had  every  intention  of  seeing  the  affair  through.  Then 
suddenly  in  the  actual  face  of  the  thing  itself  my  excite- 
ment drained  from  me  like  a  tide  receding.  My  nerves 
steadiecix,  my  trembling  stilled.  Never  had  I  felt  more  cool 
in  my  life.  Drawing  my  revolver,  I  pushed  open  the  door 
and  entered  the  building. 

Catlin  was  in  the  act  of  washing  his  face,  and  him  I 
instantly  covered  with  my  weapon.  His  companion  was 
still  abed.  On  my  entrance  the  latter  had  instinctively 
raised  on  his  elbow,  but  immediately  dropped  back  as  he 
saw  the  figures  of  my  companions  darkening  the  door. 

"Well,  gentlemen?"  demanded  Catlin. 

"You  must  come  with  us,'*  I  replied. 

He  showed  no  concern,  but  wiped  carefully  his  face  and 
hands. 

35^ 


GOLD 

"I  will  be  ready  in  a  minute/'  said  he,  throwing  aside 
the  towel,  and  rolling  down  his  shirt  sleeves.  He  advanced 
toward  a  bench  on  which  his  coat  had  been  flung.  "I'll 
be  with  you  as  soon  as  I  can  put  on  my  coat." 

I  glanced  toward  that  garment  and  saw  the  muzzle  of  a 
revolver  peeping  out  from  beneath  it. 

"I'll  hand  your  coat  to  you,"  said  I  quickly.  Catlin 
turned  deadly  pale,  but  spoke  with  his  usual  composure. 

"What  am  I  wanted  for?"  he  inquired. 

"For  being  a  road  agent,  a  thief,  and  an  accessory  to 
robberies  and  murders,"  I  repKed. 

"I  am  innocent  of  all  —  as  innocent  as  you  are." 

"There  is  no  possibility  of  a  mistake." 

"  What  will  you  do  with  me?  " 

*  *  Y  our  sen  tence  is  dea  th , "  I  told  him . 

For  a  single  instant  his  dark  face  lit  up. 

"You  think  so?"  he  flashed. 

"Hurry!"  urged  one  of  my  companions. 

With  one  man  on  either  side  and  another  behind,  re- 
volvers drawn,  we  marched  our  prisoner  in  double-quick 
time  past  the  rear  of  the  stores  and  saloons  to  the  agreed 
rendezvous.  There  we  found  Danny  Randall  and  his 
committee  with  Morton.  Within  the  next  few  moments,  in 
rapid  succession,  appeared  the  others  with  Scar-face 
Charley,  Crawford,  and  Jules. 

The  camp  was  already  buzzing  with  excitement.  Men 
poured  out  from  the  buildings  into  the  streets  like  disturbed 
ants.  Danny  thrust  his  prisoners  into  the  interior  of  the 
cabin,  and  drew  us  up  in  two  lines  outside.  He  impressed 
on  us  that  we  must  keep  the  military  formation,  and  that 

360 


THE    VIGILANTES 

we  were  to  allow  no  one  to  approach.    Across  the  road 
about  twenty  yards  away  he  himself  laid  a  rope. 

"That's  the  dead-line,"  he  announced.  "Now  you 
keep  the  other  side!" 

In  no  time  a  mob  of  five  hundred  men  had  gathered. 
They  surged  restlessly  to  and  fro.  The  flash  of  weapons 
was  everywhere  to  be  seen.  Cries  rent  the  air  —  demands, 
threats,  oaths,  and  insults  so  numerous  and  so  virulent  that 
I  must  confess  my  heart  failed  me.  At  any  instant  I 
expected  the  mob  to  open  fire;  they  could  have  swept  us 
away  with  a  single  volley.  To  my  excited  imagination 
every  man  of  that  multitude  looked  a  ruffian.  We  seemed 
alone  against  the  community.  I  could  not  understand 
why  they  did  not  rush  us  and  have  it  over  with.  Yet  they 
hesitated.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  desperadoes 
had  no  cohesion,  no  leaders;  and  they  knew  what  none  of 
us  knew  —  namely,  that  a  good  many  of  that  crowd  must 
be  on  our  side.  The  roar  and  turmoil  and  heat  of  dis- 
cussion, argument,  and  threat  rose  and  fell.  In  one  of  the 
liliis  an  Irish  voice  yelled : 

"Hang  them!" 

The  words  were  greeted  by  a  sullen  assenting  roar.  Five 
hundred  hands,  each  armed,  were  held  aloft.  This  unan- 
imity produced  an  instant  silence. 

"Hang  who?"  a  truculent  voice  expressed  the  universal 
uncertainty. 

"Hang  the  road  agents!"  yelled  back  the  little  Irishman 
defiantly. 

"Bully  for  you,  Irish;  that  took  nerve!"  muttered 
Johnny,  at  my  elbow. 

361 


GOLD 

Fifty  threats  were  hurled  at  the  bold  speaker,  and  the 
click  of  gunlocks  preceded  a  surge  in  his  direction. 
Then  from  the  mob  went  up  a  sullen,  formidable  muttering 
of  warning.  No  individual  voice  could  be  distinguished; 
but  the  total  effect  of  dead  resistance  and  determination 
could  not  be  mistaken.  Instantly,  at  the  words  so  valiantly 
uttered,  the  spirit  of  cohesion  had  been  bom.  The  des- 
peradoes checked  in  surprise.  We  had  friends.  How 
many  or  how  strong  no  one  could  guess;  but  they  were 
there,  and  in  case  of  a  battle  they  would  fight. 

On  our  side  the  line  was  a  dead,  grim  silence.  We 
stood,  our  weapons  ready,  rigidly  at  attention.  Occasion- 
ally one  or  the  other  of  us  muttered  a  warning  against 
those  who  showed  symptoms  of  desiring  to  interfere. 

In  the  meantime,  three  of  our  number  had  been  proceed- 
ing methodically  with  the  construction  of  a  gallows.  This 
was  made  by  thrusting  five  small  pine  butts,  about  forty 
feet  long,  over  a  cross  beam  in  the  gable  of  the  cabin  and 
against  the  roof  inside.  Large  drygoods  boxes  were  placed 
beneath  for  the  trap. 

About  this  time  Danny  Randall,  who  had  been 
superintending  the  construction,  touched  me  on  the 
shoulder. 

''Fall  back,"  he  said  quietly.  "Now,"  he  instructed 
several  of  us,  after  we  had  obeyed  this  command,  "I 
want  you  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  and  hold  them  in 
plain  view.  In  case  of  rescue  or  attempted  escape,  shoot 
them  instantly.    Don^t  hesitate." 

**I  should  think  they  would  be  safer  inside  the  cabin," 
I  suggested. 

362 


THE    VIGILANTES 

"Sure,"  agreed  Danny,  "but  I  want  them  here  for  th9 
moral  effect." 

We  entered  the  cabin.  The  five  prisoners  were  standing 
or  sitting.  Scar-face  Charley  was  alternately  blaspheming 
violently,  upbraiding  his  companions,  cursing  his  own  luck, 
and  uttering  frightful  threats  against  everybody  who  had 
anything  to  do  with  this.  Crawford  was  watching  him 
contemptuously  and  every  once  in  a  while  advising  him 
to  "shut  up!"  Jules  was  alternately  cursing  and  crying. 
Morton  sat  at  one  side  quite  calm  and  very  alert.  Catlin 
stared  at  the  floor. 

The  moment  we  entered  Catlin  ran  over  to  us  and  began 
to  plead  for  his  life.  He,  better  than  the  rest,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Morton,  seemed  to  realize  the 
seriousness  of  his  pHght.  From  pleadings,  which  we 
received  in  silence,  he  changed  to  arguments  concerning 
his  innocence. 

"It  is  useless,"  replied  one  of  our  men.  "That  affair 
is  settled  and  cannot  be  changed.  You  are  to  be  hanged. 
You  cannot  feel  worse  about  it  than  I  do;  but  I  could  not 
help  it  if  I  would." 

Catlin  stood  for  a  moment  as  though  overwhelmed;  then 
he  fell  on  his  knees  before  us  and  began  to  plead  rapidly. 

"Not  that!"  he  cried.  "Anything  but  that!  Do  any- 
thing else  you  want  to  with  me!  Cut  off  my  ears  and 
cut  out  my  tongue!  Disable  me  in  any  way!  You  can 
certainly  destroy  my  power  for  harm  without  taking  my 
life!  Gentlemen!  I  want  to  Hve  for  my  wife  —  my  poor 
absent  wife!  I  want  time  to  settle  my  affairs!  O  God! 
I  am  too  wicked  to  die.    I  cannot  go  bloodstained  and 

363 


GOLD 

unforgiven  into  the  presence  of  the  Eternal!    Only  let 
me  go,  and  I  will  leave  the  country  forever!" 

In  the  meantime  Scar-face  Charley  and  Crawford  were 
cursing  at  us  with  an  earnestness  and  steadiness  that  com- 
pelled our  admiration. 

"Oh,  shut  up,  Catlin!"  cried  Crawford  at  last.  "You're 
going  to  hell,  and  you  know  it;  but  I'll  be  there  in  time  to 
open  the  gate  for  you." 

"Don't  make  a  fool  of  yourself,"  ad\'ised  Charley; 
"there's  no  use  being  afraid  to  die." 

Morton  looked  around  at  each  of  us  in  turn. 

"I  suppose  you  know  you  are  proceeding  against  a 
regularly  constituted  officer  of  the  law?"  he  reminded  us. 
Receiving  no  reply,  he  beckoned  me.  "Can  I  speak  to 
you  alone  a  moment?  "  he  asked. 

"I  will  send  for  our  leader,"  I  replied. 

"No,"  said  he,  "I  want  no  leader.    You'll  do  as  well." 

I  approached  him.    In  an  anxious  tone  he  asked: 

"Is  there  any  way  of  getting  out  of  this  scrape?  Think 
well!" 

" None,"  said  I  firmly.    "You  must  die." 

With  revolvers  drawn  we  marched  them  outside.  A 
wild  yell  greeted  their  appearance.  The  cries  were  now 
mixed  in  sentiment.  A  hundred  voices  raised  in  opposition 
were  cried  down  by  twice  as  many  more.  "Hang  'em!" 
cried  some.  " No,  no,  banish  them ! "  cried  others.  "Don't 
hang  them!"  and  blood-curdling  threats.  A  single  shot 
would  have  brought  on  a  pitched  battle.  Somehow 
eventually  the  timiult  died  down.  Then  Morton,  who  had 
been  awaiting  his  chance,  spoke  up  in  a  strong  voice. 

364 


THE    VIGILANTES 

"I  call  on  you  in  the  name  of  the  law  to  arrest  and  dis- 
perse these  law-breakers." 

"Where  is  Tom  Cleveland?"  spoke  up  a  voice. 

The  appeal,  which  might  otherwise  have  had  its  effect, 
was  lost  in  the  cries,  accusations,  and  counter-accusations 
that  arose  like  a  babel.  Morton  made  no  further  attempt. 
He  better  than  any  one  realized,  I  think,  the  numerical 
superiority  against  him. 

The  preparations  were  at  length  completed.  Danny 
Randall  motioned  us  to  lead  forward  the  prisoners. 
Catlin  struggled  desperately,  but  the  others  walked 
steadily  enough  to  take  their  places  on  the  drygoods 
boxes. 

"For  God's  sake,  gentlemen,"  appealed  Crawford  in  a 
loud  tone  of  voice,  "give  me  time  to  write  home! " 

"Ask  him  how  much  time  he  gave  Tom  Cleveland!" 
shouted  a  voice. 

"If  I'd  only  had  a  show,"  retorted  Crawford,  "if  I'd 
known  what  you  were  after,  you'd  have  had  a  gay  time 
taking  me." 

There  was  some  little  delay  in  adjusting  the  cords. 

"If  you're  going  to  hang  me,  get  at  it!"  said  Jules 
with  an  oath;  "if  not,  I  want  you  to  tie  a  bandage  on  my 
finger;  it's  bleeding." 

"Give me  your  coat,  Catlin,"  said  Crawford;  "you  never 
gave  me  anything  yet;  now's  your  chance." 

Danny  Randall  broke  in  on  this  exchange. 

"You  are  about  to  be  executed,"  said  he  soberly.  "If 
you  have  any  dying  requests  to  make,  this  is  your  last 
opportunity.    They  will  be  carefully  heeded." 

36s 


GOLD 

Scar-face  Charley  broke  in  with  a  rough  laugh. 

"How  do  1  look,  boys,  with  a  halter  around  my  neck?" 
he  cried. 

This  grim  effort  was  received  in  silence. 

**  Your  time  is  very  short/'  Danny  reminded  him. 

"Well,  then,"  said  the  desperado,  "I  want  one  more 
drink  of  whiskey  before  I  die." 

A  species  of  uneasy  consternation  rippled  over  the 
crowd.  Men  glanced  meaningly  at  each  other,  murmuring 
together.  Some  of  the  countenances  expressed  loathing, 
but  more  exhibited  a  surprised  contempt.  For  a  confused 
moment  no  one  seemed  to  know  quite  what  to  do  or  what 
answer  to  make  to  so  bestial  a  dying  request.  Danny 
broke  the  silence  incisively. 

"I  promised  them  their  requests  would  be  carefully 
heeded,"  he  said.    "  Give  him  the  liquor." 

Somebody  passed  up  a  flask.  Charley  raised  it  as 
high  as  he  could,  but  was  prevented  by  the  rope  from 
getting  it  quite  to  his  lips. 

"You "  he  yelled  at  the  man  who  held  the  rope. 

"Slack  off  that  rope  and  let  a  man  take  a  parting  drink, 
can't  you?" 

Amid  a  dead  silence  the  rope  was  slacked  away.  Charley 
took  a  long  drink,  then  hurled  the  half-emptied  flask  far 
out  into  the  crowd. 

To  a  question  Crawford  shook  his  head. 

"I  hope  God  Almighty  will  strike  every  one  of  you  with 
forked  lightning  and  that  I  shall  meet  you  all  in  the  lowest 
pit  of  hell! "  he  snarled. 

Morton  kept  a  stubborn  and  rather  dignified  silence. 

366 


THE    VIGILANTES 

Catlin  alternately  pleaded  and  wept.  Jules  answered 
Danny's  question: 

''Sure  thing!  Pull  off  my  boots  for  me.  I  don't 
want  it  to  get  back  to  my  old  mother  that  I  died  with  my 
boots  on!" 

In  silence  and  gravely  this  ridiculous  request  was  com- 
plied with.  The  crowd,  very  attentive,  heaved  and  stirred. 
The  desperadoes,  shouldering  their  way  here  and  there, 
were  finding  each  other  out,  were  gathering  in  little  groups. 

"They'll  try  a  rescue!"  whispered  the  man  next  to  me. 

"Men,"  Danny's  voice  rang  out,  clear  and  menacing, 
"do  your  duty!" 

At  the  words,  across  the  silence  the  click  of  gunlocks 
was  heard  as  the  Vigilantes  levelled  their  weapons  at  the 
crowd.  From  my  position  near  the  condemned  men  I 
could  see  the  shifting  components  of  the  mob  freeze  to 
immobility  before  the  menace  of  those  barrels.  At  the 
same  instant  the  man  who  had  been  appointed  executioner 
jerked  the  box  from  beneath  Catlin's  feet. 

"There  goes  one  to  hell!"  muttered  Charley. 

"I  hope  forked  lightning  will  strike  every  strangling 

' "  yelled  Crawford.      His  speech  was  abruptly  cut 

short  as  the  box  spun  from  imder  his  feet. 

"Kick  away,  old  fellow!"  said  Scar-face  Charley.  "Me 
next!  I'll  be  in  hell  with  you  in  a  minute!  Every  man 
for  his  principles!  Hurrah  for  crime!  Let  her  rip!" 
and  without  waiting  for  the  executioner,  he  himself  kicked 
the  support  away. 

Morton  died  without  a  sign.  Catlin,  at  the  last,  sud- 
denly calmed,  and  met  his  fate  bravely, 

367 


GOLD 

Before  the  lull  resulting  from  the  execution  and  the 
threat  of  the  presented  weapons  could  break,  Danny 
Randall  spoke  up. 

** Gentlemen!"  he  called  clearly.  "The  roster  of  the 
Vigilantes  is  open.  Such  of  you  as  please  to  join  the 
association  for  the  preservation  of  decency,  law,  and  order 
in  this  camp  can  now  do  so." 

The  guard  lowered  their  arms  and  moved  to  one  side. 
The  crowd  swept  forward.  In  the  cabin  the  applicants 
were  admitted  a  few  at  a  time.  Before  noon  we  had  four 
himdred  men  on  our  rolls.  Some  of  the  bolder  roughs 
ventured  a  few  threats,  but  were  speedily  overawed.  The 
community  had  found  itself,  and  was  no  longer  afraid. 


3^ 


PART  IV 
THE  LAW 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE  RAINS 

No  sooner  had  this  radical  clean-up  of  the  body  politic 
been  consummated  than  the  rains  began.  That  means 
little  to  any  but  a  Calif  omian.  To  him  it  means  everything. 
We  were  quite  new  to  the  climate  and  the  conditions,  so 
that  the  whole  thing  was  a  great  surprise. 

For  a  month  past  it  had  been  threatening.  The  clouds 
gathered  and  piled  and  blackened  until  they  seemed  fairly 
on  the  point  of  bursting.  One  would  not  have  given  two 
cents  for  his  chances  of  a  dry  skin  were  he  to  start  on  a 
journey  across  the  street.  Yet  somehow  nothing  happened. 
Late  in  the  afternoon,  perhaps,  the  thunderous  portents 
would  thin.  The  diffused  light  would  become  stronger. 
Far  down  in  the  west  bars  of  sunlight  would  strike.  And 
by  evening  the  stars  shone  brilliantly  from  a  sky  swept 
clear.  After  a  dozen  repetitions  of  this  phenomenon  we 
ceased  to  pay  any  attention  to  it.  Somebody  named  it 
**high  fog,"  which  did  well  enough  to  differentiate  it  from 
a  genuine  rain-bringing  cloud.  Except  for  that  peculiar 
gourd  that  looks  exactly  like  a  watermelon,  these  "high 
fogs''  were  the  best  imitation  of  a  real  thing  I  have  evei 
seen.  They  came  up  like  rain  clouds,  they  looked  precisely 
like  rain  clouds,  they  went  through  all  the  performances 
of  rain  clouds  —  except  that  never,  never  did  they  rain  I 

371 


GOLD 

But  the  day  of  the  Vigilante  execution  the  sky  little 
by  little  turaed  shimmering  gray;  so  that  the  sun  shining 
from  it  looked  like  silver;  and  the  shadows  of  objects 
were  diffused  and  pale.  A  tepid  wind  blew  gently  but 
steadily  from  the  southeast.  No  clouds  were  visible  at 
first;  but  imperceptibly,  around  the  peaks,  filmy  veils 
formed  seemingly  out  of  the  gray  substance  of  the  very 
sky  itself.  How  these  thickened  and  spread  I  did  not 
see;  but  when  I  came  out  of  the  Bella  Union,  after  a  long 
and  interesting  evening  of  discussion,  I  found  no  stars; 
and,  as  I  stood  looking  upward,  a  large  warm  drop  splashed 
against  my  face. 

Sometime  during  the  night  it  began  to  rain  in  earnest. 
We  were  awakened  by  its  steady  drumming  on  the  canvas 
of  our  tent. 

''My  Lord!  but  she  sure  is  raining!'^  said  Johnny  across 
the  roar  of  sound. 

"Don^t  tech  the  canvas!"  warned  Old.  "If  you  do, 
she'll  leak  like  a  spout  where  you  teched  her!" 

"Thank  heaven,  that  high  fog  scared  us  into  ditching 
around  the  tent,"  said  Cal  fervently. 

But  our  satisfaction  was  short  lived.  We  had  ditched 
the  tent,  to  be  sure,  but  we  had  badly  underestimated  the 
volume  of  a  California  downpour. 

Before  many  minutes  had  passed  Johnny  gave  a  disgusted 
snort. 

"I^m  lying  in  a  marsh!"  he  cried. 

He  struck  a  light,  and  we  all  saw  the  water  trick- 
ling in  a  dozen  little  streams  beneath  the  edge  of  the 
tent. 

372 


THE    RAINS 

"We're  going  to  be  ruined !''  cried  Johnny  comically. 

He  arose,  and  in  doing  so  brushed  his  head  violently 
against  the  slanting  canvas  roof.  Almost  immediately 
thereafter  the  rays  of  the  lantern  were  reflected  from  tiny 
beads  of  water,  like  a  sweat,  appearing  as  though  by 
magic  at  that  spot.  They  swelled,  gathered,  hesitated, 
then  began  to  feel  their  way  slowly  down  the  dry  canvas. 
The  trickle  became  a  stream.  A  large  drop  fell  straight 
down.    Another  followed. 

"Anybody  need  a  drink? "  inquired  Cal. 

"I'm  sorry!"  said  Johnny  contritely. 

"You  needn't  be,"  I  consoled  him.  "The  whole  thing 
is  going  to  leak,  if  this  keeps  up." 

"What's  the  matter  with  going  over  to  the  Morena 
cabin?  "  queried  Yank. 

We  hesitated  a  little.  The  events  of  the  day  had 
affected  us  all  more  deeply  than  we  liked  to  acknowledge; 
and  nobody  but  Yank  much  liked  the  idea  of  again  entering 
that  blood-stained  abode. 

"We'd  drown  getting  there,"  said  Cal  at  last.  "I  move 
some  of  you  fellows  with  two  good  arms  rustle  out  and 
fix  that  ditch."  He  laughed.  "Nothing  like  having  a  hole 
in  you  to  get  out  of  work." 

We  took  his  advice,  and  managed  to  turn  the  flood, 
though  we  got  very  wet  in  the  process. 

Then  we  returned  to  the  tent,  changed  our  clothes, 
crept  into  our  blankets,  and  wrapped  ourselves  close.  The 
spot  brushed  by  Johnny's  head  dripped  steadily.  Other- 
wise our  roof  shed  well.  The  rain  roared  straight  down  with 
steady,  deadly  persistency. 

373 


GOLD 

"She  can't  keep  this  up  long,  anyway;  that's  a  comfort," 
muttered  Johnny  sleepily. 

Couldn't  she?  All  next  morning  that  flood  came  down 
without  the  let-up  of  even  a  single  moment.  It  had 
all  the  volume  and  violence  of  a  black  thunderstorm  at 
its  height;  only  the  worst  of  the  thunderstorm  lasts  but  a 
few  moments,  while  this  showed  no  signs  of  ever  intending 
to  end.  Our  stout  canvas  continued  to  turn  the  worst  of 
it,  but  a  fine  spray  was  driven  through,  to  our  great  dis- 
comfort. We  did  not  even  attempt  to  build  a  fire,  but 
5at  around  wrapped  in  our  damp  blankets. 

Until  about  two  of  the  afternoon  the  deluge  continued. 
Our  unique  topic  of  conversation  was  the  marvel  of  how 
it  could  keep  it  up !  We  could  not  imagine  more  water 
falling  were  every  stream  and  lake  in  the  mountains  to  be 
lifted  to  the  heavens  and  poured  down  again. 

"WTiere  the  devil  does  it  all  come  from?"  marvelled 
Old,  again  and  again.  "Don't  seem  like  no  resevoy,  let 
alone  clouds,  could  hold  so  much!" 

"And  where  does  it  go  to?"  I  supplemented. 

"I  reckon  some  of  those  plains  people  could  tell  you," 
surmised  Yank  shrewdly. 

At  two  o'clock  the  downpour  ceased  as  abruptly  as 
though  it  had  been  turned  off  at  a  spigot.  Inside  of  twenty 
minutes  the  clouds  had  broken,  to  show  beyond  them  a 
dazzling  blue  sky.  Intermittent  flashes  and  bands  of 
sunlight  glittered  on  the  wet  trees  and  bushes  or  threw 
into  relief  the  black  bands  of  storm  clouds  near  the  horizon. 

Immensely  cheered,  we  threw  aside  our  soggy  blankets 
and  sallied  forth. 

374 


THE    RAINS 

"Great  Christmas!"  cried  Johnny,  who  was  in  the 
advance .    ' '  Talk  about  your  mud ! ' ' 

We  did  talk  about  it.  It  was  the  deepest,  most  tena- 
cious, slipperiest,  most  adhesive  mud  any  fiend  ever 
imagined.  We  slid  and  floundered  as  though  we  had  on 
skates;  we  accumulated  balls  of  it  underfoot;  and  we  sank 
disconcertingly  half -leg  deep  at  every  third  step.  Our  first 
intention  had  been  to  go  up  to  town;  but  we  soon  revised 
that,  and  went  down  to  the  Morena  cabin  instead,  with 
the  idea  of  looking  after  the  two  horses.  The  beasts, 
very  shaggy  underneath  and  plastered  above,  stood  humped 
up  nose  to  tail.  We  looked  into  the  cabin.  The  roof  had 
leaked  like  a  sieve;  and  the  interior  was  dripping  in  a  thou- 
sand places. 

"Reckon  even  the  tent  was  better  after  all,"  acknowl- 
edged Yank,  looking  mth  disfavour  on  the  muddy 
floor. 

We  returned  to  the  tent  and  made  shift  to  get  a  fire 
going.  After  cooking  som.e  hot  food,  we  felt  better,  and 
set  about  drying  our  blankets.  In  the  canon  we  could  hear 
the  river  roaring  away  hollowly, 

^^I'll  bet  she's  on  the  rampaged"  said  Old. 

"I'll  bet  she's  got  my  cradle  and  all  of  my  tools!'' 
I  cried,  struck  with  a  sudden  thought. 

And  then,  about  as  v/e  commenced  to  feel  cheerful  and 
contented  again,  the  scattered  black  clouds  began  to  close 
ranks.  One  by  one  the  patches  of  blue  sky  narrowed  and 
disappeared. 

"  Why ! "  cried  Cal  in  astonishment,  "I  believe  it's  getting 
ready  to  rain  again ! " 

375 


GOLD 

''Shucks!"  replied  Old,  "It  can't.  There  ain't  no  more 
rain." 

Nevertheless  there  was,  and  plenty  of  it.  We  spent 
that  second  night  shifting  as  little  as  possible  so  as  not 
to  touch  a  new  cold  place  in  our  sodden  blankets,  while 
the  waters  roared  down  in  almost  a  solid  sheet. 

This  lasted  the  incredible  period  of  four  days!  No- 
body then  knew  anything  about  measuring  rainfall;  but, 
judging  by  later  experience,  I  should  say  we  must  have  had 
close  to  seven  inches.  There  was  not  much  we  could  do, 
except  to  get  wetter  and  wetter,  although  we  made  shift  to 
dovible  up  at  night,  and  to  use  the  extra  blankets  thus 
released  to  make  a  sort  of  double  roof.    This  helped  some. 

The  morning  of  the  fifth  day  broke  dazzlingly  clear. 
The  sky  looked  burnished  as  a  blue  jewel;  the  sunlight 
glittered  like  shimmering  metal;  distant  objects  stood  out 
plain-cut,  without  atmosphere.  For  the  first  time  we  felt 
encouraged  to  dare  that  awful  mud,  and  so  slopped  over 
to  town. 

We  found  the  place  fairly  drowned  out.  No  one,  in 
his  first  year,  thought  of  building  for  the  weather.  Barnes's 
hotel,  the  Empire  and  the  Bella  Union  had  come  through 
without  shipping  a  drop,  for  they  had  been  erected 
by  men  with  experience  in  the  CaHfomia  climate;  but 
almost  everybody  else  had  been  leaked  upon  a-plenty. 
And  the  deep  dust  of  the  travel-worn  overland  road  had 
turned  into  a  morass  beyond  belief  or  description. 

Our  first  intimation  of  a  definite  seasonal  change  came 
from  our  old  friend  Danny  Randall,  who  hailed  us  at  once 
when  he  saw  us  picking  our  way  gingerly  along  the  edge 

376 


THE    RAINS 

of  the  street.  In  answer  to  his  summons  we  entered 
the  Bella  Union. 

"I  hope  you  boys  weren^t  quite  drowned  out,"  he  greeted 
us.     "You  don't  look  particularly  careworn." 

We  exchanged  the  appropriate  comments;  then  Danny 
came  at  once  to  business. 

"Now  I'm  going  to  pay  off  you  three  boys,"  he  told  the 
express  messengers,  "and  I  want  to  know  what  you  want. 
I  can  give  you  the  dust,  or  I  can  give  you  an  order  on  a 
San  Francisco  firm,  just  as  you  choose." 

"Express  business  busted?"  asked  Johnny. 

"It's  quit  for  the  season,"  Danny  Randall  told  him, 
*'like  everything  else.  In  two  weeks  at  most  there  won't 
be  a  score  of  men  left  in  Italian  Bar."  He  observed  our 
astonished  incredulity,  smiled,  and  continued:  "You 
boys  came  from  the  East,  where  it  rains  and  gets  over  it. 
But  out  here  it  doesn't  get  over  it.  Have  you  been  down  to 
look  at  the  river?  No?  Well,  you'd  better  take  a  look. 
There'll  be  no  more  bar  mining  done  there  for  a  while. 
And  what's  a  mining  camp  without  mining?  Go  talk  to  the 
men  of  '48.  They'll  tell  you.  The  season  is  over,  boys, 
until  next  spring;  and  you  may  just  as  well  make  up  your 
minds  to  hike  out  now  as  later.  What  are  you  laughing  at?  " 
he  asked  Johnny. 

"I  was  just  thinking  of  our  big  Vigilante  organization," 
he  chuckled. 

"I  suppose  it's  true  that  mighty  few  of  the  same  lot 
will  ever  get  back  to  Italian  Bar,"  agreed  Danny,  "but 
it's  a  good  thing  for  whatever  community  they  may  hit 
next  year." 

377 


GOLD 

Johnny  and  Old  elected  to  take  their  wages  in  dust; 
Cal  decided  on  the  order  against  the  San  Francisco  firm. 
Then  we  wandered  down  to  where  we  could  overlook  the 
bar  itself. 

The  entire  bed  of  the  river  was  filled  from  rim  to  rim 
with  a  rolling  brown  flood.  The  bars,  sand-spits,  gravel- 
banks  had  all  disappeared.  Whole  trees  bobbed  and  sank 
and  raised  skeleton  arms  or  tangled  roots  as  they  were 
swept  along  by  the  current  or  caught  back  by  the  eddies; 
and  underneath  the  roar  of  the  waters  we  heard  the  dull 
rumbling  and  crunching  of  boulders  rolled  beneath  the 
flood.  A  crowd  of  men  was  watching  in  idle  curiosity. 
We  learned  that  all  the  cradles  and  most  of  the  tools  had 
been  lost;  and  heard  rumours  of  cabins  or  camps  located 
too  low  having  been  swept  away. 

That  evening  we  held  a  very  serious  discussion  of 
our  prospects  and  plans.  Yank  announced  himself  as  fit 
to  travel,  and  ready  to  do  so,  provided  he  could  have  a 
horse;  the  express  messengers  were  out  of  a  job;  I  had 
lost  all  my  tools,  and  was  heartily  tired  of  gold  washing, 
even  had  conditions  permitted  me  to  continue.  Beside 
which,  we  were  all  feeling  quite  rich  and  prosperous.  We 
had  not  made  enormous  fortunes  as  we  had  confidently 
anticipated  when  we  left  New  York,  but  we  were  all  pos- 
sessed of  good  sums  of  money.  Yank  had  the  least,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  robbed  of  his  Porcupine  River 
product,  and  had  been  compelled  for  nearly  three  months 
to  lie  idle;  but  even  he  could  count  on  a  thousand  dollars 
or  so  sent  out  from  Hangman's  Gulch.  I  had  the  most, 
for  my  digging  had  paid  me  better  than  had  Johnny's 

378 


THE    RAINS 

express  riding.  But  much  of  my  share  belonged  of  right 
to  Talbot  Ward. 

Having  once  made  up  our  minds  to  leave,  we  could  not 
go  too  w.oon.  A  revulsion  seized  us.  In  two  days  the  high 
wL.  ds  that  immediately  sprang  up  from  the  west  had  dried 
the  surface  moisture.  We  said  good-bye  to  all  our  friends 
—  Danny  Randall,  Dr.  Rankin,  Barnes,  and  the  few 
miners  with  whom  we  had  become  intimate.  Danny  was 
even  then  himself  preparing  to  return  to  Sonoma  as  soon 
as  the  road  should  be  open  to  wagons.  Dr.  Rankin  in- 
tended to  accompany  him,  ostensibly  because  he  saw  a 
fine  professional  opening  at  Sonoma,  in  reality  because  in 
his  shy,  hidden  fashion  he  loved  Danny. 

Nobody  objecting,  we  commandeered  the  two  horses  that 
had  belonged  to  the  Morenas.  One  of  them  we  packed  with 
our  few  effects,  and  turned  the  other  over  to  Yank.  Thus, 
tradging  afoot,  Johnny  and  I  saw  our  last  of  Italian  Bar. 
Thirty  years  later  I  rode  up  there  out  of  sheer  curiosity. 
Most  of  the  old  cabins  had  fallen  in.  The  Bella  Union 
was  a  drear  and  draughty  wreck.  The  Empire  was  used 
as  a  stable.  Barnes's  place  and  Morton's  next  door  had 
burned  down.  Only  three  of  the  many  houses  v/ere  in- 
habited. In  two  of  them  dwelt  old  men,  tending  smaE 
gardens  and  orchards.  I  do  not  doubt  they  too  were 
Forty-niners;  but  I  did  not  stop.  The  place  was  full  of 
too  many  ghosts. 


379 


CHAPTER  XLI 
WE  GO  OUT 

We  made  our  way  out  of  the  hills  without  adventure 
worth  noting.  The  road  was  muddy,  and  a  good  deal 
washed.  In  fact,  we  had  occasionally  to  do  considerable 
manoeuvring  to  find  a  way  at  all  around  the  landslides 
from  the  hills  above. 

As  we  descended  we  came  upon  traces  of  the  great 
exodus  that  was  taking  place  from  the  hills.  All  the  miners 
were  moving  out.  We  foimd  discarded  articles  of  camp 
equipment;  we  passed  some  people  without  any  equipment 
at  all.  Sick  men  lay  imder  bushes  without  covering,  or 
staggered  painfully  down  the  muddy  trails.  Many  were 
utterly  without  food.  If  it  rained,  as  it  did  from  frequent 
showers,  they  took  it  as  cheerfully  as  they  could.  This 
army  of  the  unsuccessful  was  a  striking  commentary  on 
the  luck  of  the  mines. 

Robbers  most  singularly  lacked.  I  did  not  hear  of  a 
single  case  of  violence  in  all  the  rather  slow  journey  out. 
The  explanation  did  not  seem  difficult,  however.  Those 
who  travelled  alone  had  nothing  worth  the  taking;  while 
those  who  possessed  gold  went  in  numbers  too  strong  to  be 
attacked.  The  road  agents  had  gone  straight  to  the  larger 
cities.  Nor,  must  I  confess,  did  I  see  many  examples  of 
compassion  to  the  unfortunate.    In  spite  of  the  sentimental 

380 


WE    GO    OUT 

stories  that  have  been  told  —  with  real  enough  basis  in 
isolated  fact,  probably  —  the  time  was  selfish.  It  was 
also,  after  eliminating  the  desperadoes  and  blacklegs, 
essentially  honest.  Thus  one  day  we  came  upon  a  wagon 
apparently  deserted  by  the  roadside.  On  it  was  a  rudely 
scrawled  sign: 

^'Will  some  kind  person  stay  by  my  wagon.  I  am  in 
distress  looking  for  my  oxen.  Please  do  not  take  anything, 
for  I  am  poor^  and  the  property  is  not  mine  J  ^ 

Nothing  had  been  touched,  as  near  as  I  could  make  out. 
We  travelled  by  easy  stages,  and  by  a  roimdabout  route* 
both  because  the  road  was  bad,  and  because  we  wanted 
to  see  the  country.  On  our  way  we  passed  several  other 
small  camps.  A  great  many  Chinese  had  come  in,  and 
were  engaged  in  scratching  over  the  abandoned  claims.  In 
fact,  one  man  told  me  that  sometimes  it  was  worth  while  to 
file  on  some  of  the  abandoned  claims  just  to  sell  them  to 
these  patient  people !  As  we  descended  from  the  mountains 
we  naturally  came  upon  more  and  more  worked-out  claims. 
Some  had  evidently  been  abandoned  in  disgust  by  men 
with  little  stamina;  but,  sometimes,  with  a  considerable 
humour.  An  effigy  clad  in  regulation  gambler's  rig,  includ- 
ing the  white  shirt,  swayed  and  swung  slowly  above  the 
merest  surface  diggings.  Across  the  rflirt  front  thesc= 
words  were  written: 

"  My  claim  failed!  " 

And  then  below  them: 

"  Ohy  Susannah!  donH  you  cry  for  me! 
Fm  a-living  dead  in  Californi-ee*'  — 

381 


GOLD 

■which  was  very  bad  as  doggeral,  but  probably  very  accu- 
rate as  to  its  author's  state  of  mind. 

One  afternoon  we  turned  off  on  a  trail  known  to  Old, 
and  rode  a  few  miles  to  where  the  Pine  family  had  made  its 
farm.  We  found  the  old  man  and  his  tall  sons  inhabit- 
ing a  large  two-roomed  cabin  situated  on  a  flat.  They 
had  already  surrounded  a  field  with  a  fence  made  of  split 
pickets  and  rails,  and  were  working  away  with  the  tireless 
energy  of  the  bom  axemen  at  enclosing  still  more.  Their 
horses  had  been  turned  into  ploughing;  and  from  some- 
where or  other  they  had  procured  a  cock  and  a  dozen  hens. 
Of  these  they  were  inordinately  proud,  and  they  took  great 
pains  to  herd  them  in  every  night  away  from  wildcats  and 
other  beasts.  We  stayed  with  them  four  days,  and  we  had 
a  fine  time.  Every  man  of  them  was  keenly  interested 
in  the  development  of  the  valley  and  the  discovery  of  its 
possibilities.  We  discussed  apples,  barley,  peaches,  apricots, 
ditches,  irrigation,  beans,  hogs,  and  a  hundred  kindr^ 
topics,  to  Johnny's  vast  disgust.  I  had  been  raised  on  « 
New  England  farm;  Yank  had  experienced  agricultural 
vicissitudes  in  the  new  country  west  of  the  AUeghanies; 
and  the  Pines  had  scratched  the  surface  of  the  earth  in 
many  localities.  But  this  was  a  new  climate  and  a  new 
soil  to  all  of  us;  and  we  had  nothing  to  guide  us.  The 
subject  was  fascinating.  Johnny  was  frankly  bored  with 
it  all,  but  managed  to  have  a  good  time  hunting  for  the 
game  with  which  the  country  abounded. 

For  a  brief  period  Yank  and  I  quite  envied  the  lot  of 
these  pioneers  who  had  a  settled  stake  in  the  country. 

"I  wish  I  could  go  in  for  this  sort  of  thing,"  said  Yank. 

382 


WE    GO    OUT 

"Why  don't  you?"  urged  old  man  Pine.  "There's  a 
flat  just  above  us." 

*'How  did  you  get  hold  of  this  land?  "  I  inquired  curiously- 

"Just  took  it." 

"Doesn't  it  belong  to  anybody?" 

"It's  part  of  one  of  these  big  Greaser  ranchos,"  said 
Pine  impatiently.  "I  made  a  good  try  to  git  to  the  bottom 
of  it.  One  fellar  says  he  owns  it,  and  will  sell;  then  comes 
another  that  sa3'^s  he  owns  it  and  won't  sell.  And  so  on. 
They  don't  nohow  use  this  country,  except  a  few  cattle 
comes  through  once  in  a  while.  I  got  tired  of  monkeying 
with  them  and  I  came  out  here  and  squatted.  If  I  owe  any- 
body anything,  they  got  to  show  me  who  it  is.  I  don't 
believe  none  of  them  knows  themselves  who  it  really 
belongs  to." 

"I'd  hate  to  put  a  lot  of  work  into  a  place,  and  then  have 
to  move  out,"  said  I  doubtfully. 

"I'd  like  to  see  anybody  move  me  out!"  observed  old 
man  Pine  grimly. 

Farther  up  in  the  hills  they  were  putting  together 
the  framework  of  a  sawmill,  working  on  it  at  odd  times 
when  the  ranch  itself  did  not  demand  attention.  It  was 
built  of  massive  hewn  timbers,  raised  into  place  with  great 
difficulty.  They  had  no  machinery  as  yet,  but  would  get 
that  later  out  of  their  first  farming  profits. 

"There  ain't  no  hurry  about  it  anyway,"  explained  Pine, 
"for  as  yet  there  ain't  no  demand  for  lumber  yereabouts." 

"I  should  say  not!"  exploded  Johnny  with  a  derisive 
shriek  of  laughter,  "unless  you're  going  to  sell  it  to  the 
elks  and  coyotes!" 

383 


GOLD 

Pine  turned  toward  him  seriously. 

"This  is  all  good  land  yere,"  said  he,  "and  they'll  want 
lumber." 

"It  looks  mighty  good  to  me,"  said  Yank. 

"Well,  why  don't  you  settle? "  urged  Pine. 

"And  me  with  fifteen  hundred  good  dollars?"  repKed 
Yank.  "It  ain't  such  an  everlasting  fortune;  but  it'll 
git  me  a  place  back  home;  and  I've  had  my  fun.  This 
country  is  too  far  ojff.    I'm  going  back  home." 

To  this  sentiment  Johnny  and  I  heartily  agreed.  It 
is  a  curious  fact  that  not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  even 
contemplated  the  possibility  of  making  California  his 
permanent  home.  It  was  a  place  in  which  to  get  as  rich 
as  he  could,  and  then  to  leave. 

/  Nevertheless  we  left  our  backwoods  friends  reluctantly; 
and  at  the  top  of  the  hill  we  stopped  our  two  horses  to 
look  back  on  the  valley.  It  lay,  with  its  brown,  freshly 
upturned  earth,  its  scattered  broad  oaks,  its  low  wood- 
crowned  knolls,  as  though  asleep  in  the  shimmering  warm 
floods  of  golden  sunshine.  Through  the  still  air  we  heard 
plainly  the  beat  of  an  axe,  and  the  low,  drowsy  clucking 
of  hens.  A  peaceful  and  grateful  feeling  of  settled  per- 
manence, to  which  the  restless  temporary  life  of  mining 
camps  had  long  left  us  strangers,  filled  us  with  the  vague 
stirrings  of  envy. 

The  feeling  soon  passed.  We  marched  cheerfully  away, 
our  hopes  busy  with  what  we  would  do  when  we 
reached  New  York.  Johnny  and  I  had  accumulated  very 
fair  sums  of  money,  in  spite  of  our  loss  at  the  hands  of 
the  robbers,  what  with  the  takings  at  Hangman's  Gulch^ 

384 


WE    GO    OUT 

what  was  left  from  the  robbery,  and  Italian  Bar.  These 
sums  did  not  constitute  an  enormous  fortune,  to  be  sure. 
There  was  nothing  spectacular  in  our  winnings;  but  they 
totalled  about  five  times  the  amoimt  we  could  have  made 
at  home;  and  they  represented  a  very  fair  little  stake  with 
which  to  start  Hfe.    We  were  young. 

We  foimd  Sacramento  imder  water.  A  sluggish,  brown 
flood  filled  the  town  and  spread  far  abroad  over  the  flat 
countryside.  Men  were  living  in  the  second  stories  of 
such  buildings  as  possessed  second  stories,  and  on  the 
roofs  of  others.  They  were  paddling  about  in  all  sorts 
of  improvised  boats  and  rafts.  I  saw  one  man  keeping  a 
precarious  equilibrium  in  a  baker's  trough;  and  another 
sprawled  out  face  down  on  an  India  rubber  bed  paddling 
overside  with  his  hands. 

We  viewed  these  things  from  the  thwarts  of  a  boat 
which  we  hired  for  ten  dollars.  Our  horses  we  had  left 
outside  of  town  on  the  highlands.  Ever)nvhere  we  passed 
men  and  shouted  to  them  a  cheery  greeting.  Everybody 
seemed  optimistic  and  inclined  to  believe  that  the  flood 
would  soon  go  down. 

"Anyway,  she's  killed  the  rats,"  one  man  shouted  in 
answer  to  our  call. 

We  grinned  an  appreciation  of  what  we  thought  merely 
a  facetious  reply.  Rats  had  not  yet  penetrated  to  the 
mines,  so  we  did  not  know  anything  about  them.  Next 
day,  in  San  Francisco,  we  began  to  apprehend  the  man's 
remark. 

Thus  we  rowed  cheerfully  about,  having  a  good  time  at 
the  other  fellow's  expense.    Suddenly  Johnny,  who  was 

385 


GOLD 

steering,  dropped  his  paddle  with  an  exclamation.  Yank 
and  I  turned  to  see  what  had  so  struck  him.  Beyond  the 
trees  that  marked  where  the  bank  of  the  river  ought  to  be 
we  saw  two  tall  smokestacks  belching  forth  a  great  volume 
of  black  smoke. 

"A  steamer!"  cried  Yank. 

''Yes,  and  a  good  big  one!''  I  added. 

We  lay  to  our  oars  and  soon  drew  alongside.  She 
proved  to  be  a  side  wheeler,  of  fully  seven  hundred  tons, 
exactly  like  the  craft  we  had  often  seen  plying  the  Hudson. 

*''Now  hovv  do  you  suppose  they  got  her  out  here?" 
I  marvelled. 

She  was  almost  completely  surrounded  by  craft  of  all 
descriptions;  her  decks  were  crowded.  We  read  the  name 
McKim  on  her  paddle  boxes. 

A  man  with  an  official  cap  appeared  at  the  rail. 

*' Bound  for  San  Francisco?"  I  called  to  him. 

*'Off  in  two  minutes,"  he  replied. 

''"v^Tiat's  the  fare?" 

''Forty  dollars." 

''Come  on,  boys,"  said  I  to  my  comrades,  at  the  same 
time  seizing  a  dangling  rope. 

"Hold  on!"  cried  Yank.  "How  about  our  two  horses 
and  our  blankets,  and  this  boat?" 

I  cast  my  eye  around,  and  discovered  a  boy  of  fourteen 
or  fifteen  in  the  stern  of  a  neat  fisherman's  dory  a  few 
feet  awa}^ 

"Here ! "  I  called  to  him.  "Do  you  want  two  good  horses 
and  some  blankets?" 

*'I  ain't  got  any  money." 

386 


WE    GO    OUT 

"Don't  need  any.  These  are  free.  We're  going  down 
on  this  boat.  You'll  find  the  outfit  under  the  big  white 
oak  two  miles  above  the  forks  on  the  American.  They're 
yours  if  you'll  go  get  them." 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do?"  he  demanded  sus- 
piciously. 

"Two  things:  return  this  boat  to  its  owner  —  a  man 
named  Lilly  who  lives " 

"I  know  the  boat,"  the  boy  interrupted. 

"The  other  is  to  be  sure  to  go  up  to-day  after  those 
horses.    They're  picketed  out." 

"All  right,"  agreed  the  boy,  whose  enthusiasm  kindled 
as  his  behef  in  the  genuineness  of  the  oft^er  was  assured. 

I  seized  a  rope,  swung  myself  up  to  the  flat  fender, 
and  thence  to  the  deck. 

"Come  on!"  I  called  to  Yank  and  Johnny,  who  were 
hesitating.  "It'll  cost  more  than  those  horses  and  blankets 
are  worth  to  wait." 

Thereupon  they  followed  me.  The  boy  made  fast  our 
boat  to  his  own.  Five  minutes  later  we  were  dropping  down 
the  river. 

"This  is  what  I  call  real  luxury,"  said  Johnny,  return- 
ing from  an  inspection  of  our  craft.  "There's  a  barroom, 
and  a  gambling  layout,  and  velvet  carpets  and  chairs, 
mirrors,  a  minstrel  show,  and  all  the  fixings.  Now  who'd 
expect  to  run  against  a  layout  like  this  on  the  river?" 

"What  I'd  like  to  know  is  how  they  got  her  out  here," 
said  I.  "Look  at  her!  She's  a  river  boat.  A  six-foot 
wave  ought  to  swamp  her!" 

We  thought  of  a  half  dozen  solutions,  and  dismissed 

387 


GOLD 

them  all.  The  discussion,  however,  served  its  purpose  in 
inflaming  our  curiosity. 

"I'm  going  to  find  some  one  who  knows,"  I  announced  at 
last. 

This  was  not  so  easy.  The  captain  was  of  course  remote 
and  haughty  and  inaccessible,  and  the  other  officers  were 
too  busy  handling  the  ship  and  the  swarming  rough  crowd 
to  pay  any  attention  to  us.  The  crew  were  new  hands. 
Finally,  however,  we  found  in  the  engine  room  a  hard 
bitten  individual  with  a  short  pipe  and  some  leisure.  To 
him  we  proffered  our  question. 

"  Sailed  her,"  said  he. 

"Around  the  Horn?"  I  cried. 

He  looked  at  me  a  bitter  instant. 

"The  sailing  wasn't  very  good  across  the  plains,  at 
that  time  J  ^  said  he. 

Little  by  little  we  got  his  story.  I  am  not  a  seafaring 
man,  but  it  seems  to  me  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
feats  of  which  I  have  ever  heard.  The  lower  decks  of  the 
McKim  had  been  boarded  up  with  heavy  planks;  some  of 
her  frailer  gimcracks  of  superstructure  had  been  dis- 
mantled, and  then  she  had  been  sent  under  her  own  power 
on  the  long  journey  around  the  Horn.  Think  of  it!  A 
smooth-water  river  boat,  light  draught,  top  heavy,  frail 
in  construction,  sent  out  to  battle  with  the  might  of  three 
oceans!  However,  she  made  it;  and  after  her  her  sister 
ship,  the  Senator  J  and  they  made  money  for  their  owners, 
and  I  am  glad  of  it.  That  certainly  was  a  gallant  enter- 
prise! 

She  was  on  this  trip  jammed  full  of  people,  mostly, 

388 


WE    GO    OUT 

those  returning  from  the  mines.  A  trip  on  the  McKim 
implied  a  certain  amount  of  prosperity,  so  we  were  a  jolly! 
lot.  The  weather  was  fine,  and  a  bright  moon  illuminated 
the  swollen  river.  We  had  drinkers,  songsters,  debaters, 
gamblers,  jokers,  and  a  few  inclined  to  be  quarrelsome, 
all  of  which  added  to  the  variety  of  the  occasion.  I  wan- 
dered around  from  one  group  to  another,  thoroughly  en- 
jo3dng  myself,  both  out  on  deck  and  in  the  cabins.  It 
might  be  added  that  there  were  no  sleepers ! 

Along  toward  midnight,  as  I  was  leaning  on  the  rail 
forward  watching  the  ejffect  of  the  moon  on  the  water  and 
the  shower  of  sparks  from  the  twin  stacks  against  the  sky, 
I  was  suddenly  startled  by  the  cry  of  "man  overboard,"  and 
a  rush  toward  the  stern.  I  followed  as  quickly  as  I  was 
able.  The  paddle  wheels  had  been  instantly  reversed,  and 
a  half  dozen  sailors  were  busily  lowering  a  boat.  A  crowd 
of  men,  alarmed  by  the  trembling  of  the  vessel  as  her 
way  was  checked,  poured  out  from  the  cabins.  The  fact 
that  I  was  already  on  deck  gave  me  an  advantageous  post; 
so  that  I  found  myself  near  the  stem  rail. 

"He  was  leaning  against  the  rail,"  one  was  explaining 
excitedly,  "and  it  give  way,  and  in  he  went.  He  never 
came  up!" 

Everybody  was  watching  eagerly  the  moonlit  expanse 
of  the  river. 

"I  guess  he's  a  goner,"  said  a  man  after  a  few  moments. 
"He  ain't  in  sight  nowhere." 

"There  he  is!"  cried  a  half  dozen  voices  all  at  once. 

A  head  shot  into  sight  a  few  hundred  yards  astern, 
blowing  the  silvered  water  aside.    The  small  boat,  which 

389 


GOLD 

was  now  afloat,  immediately  headed  in  his  direction,  and 
a  moment  later  he  was  hauled  aboard  amid  frantic  cheers. 
The  dripping  victim  of  the  accident  clambered  to  the  deck. 

It  was  Johnny! 

He  was  beside  himself  with  excitement,  sputtering  with 
rage  and  uttering  frantic  threats  against  something  or 
somebody.  His  eyes  were  wild,  and  he  fairly  frothed  at 
the  mouth.  I  seized  him  by  the  arm.  He  stared  at  me, 
then  became  coherent,  though  he  still  spluttered.  Johnny 
was  habitually  so  quietly  reserved  as  far  as  emotions  go 
that  his  present  excitement  was  at  first  utterly  incompre- 
hensible. 

It  seemed  that  he  had  been  leaning  against  the  rail^ 
watching  the  moonlight,  when  suddenly  it  had  given  way 
beneath  his  weight  and  he  had  fallen  into  the  river. 

"They  had  no  business  to  have  so  weak  a  rail!"  he 
cried  bitterly. 

"Well,  you're  here,  all  right,"  I  said  soothingly.  "  There's 
no  great  harm  done." 

"Oh,  isn't  there?"  he  snarled. 

Then  we  learned  how  the  weight  of  the  gold  around  his 
waist  had  carried  him  down  like  a  plummet;  and  we  sensed 
a  little  of  the  desperate  horror  with  which  he  had  torn  and 
struggled  to  free  himself  from  that  dreadful  burden. 

"  l  thought  I'd  burst ! "  said  he. 

And  then  he  had  torn  off  the  belt,  and  had  shot  to  the 
surface. 

"It's  down  there,"  he  said  more  calmly,  "every 
confoimded  yellow  grain  of  it."  He  laughed  a  little. 
"Broke!"  said  he.    "No  New  York  in  mine!" 

390 


WE    GO    OUT 

The  crowd  murmured  sympathetically. 

"Gol  dam  it,  boys,  it's  rotten  hard  luck!**  cried  a  big 
miner  with  some  heat.    "Who'll  chip  in? '* 

At  the  words  Johnny  recovered  himself,  and  his  custom- 
ary ease  of  manner  returned. 

"Much  obliged,  boys,"  said  he,  "but  IVe  still  got  my 
health.  I  don't  need  charity.  Guess  IVe  been  doing 
the  baby  act;  but  I  was  damn  mad  at  that  rotten  old  rail. 
Anyway,"  he  laughed,  "there  need  nobody  say  in  the  future 
that  there's  no  gold  in  the  lower  Sacramento.  There  is; 
I  put  it  there  myself." 

The  tall  miner  slowly  stowed  away  his  buckskin  sack, 
looking  keenly  in  Johnny's  face 

"Well,  you'll  have  a  drink,  anyway,"  said  he. 

"Oh,  hell,  yes!"  agreed  Johnny,  "I'll  have  a  drink!" 


39X 


CHAPTER  XLH 
SAN  FRANCISCO  AGAIN 

We  drew  up  to  San  Francisco  early  in  the  afternoon, 
and  we  were,  to  put  it  mildly,  thoroughly  astonished  at  the 
change  in  the  place.  To  begin  with,  we  now  landed  at  a 
long  wharf  projecting  from  the  foot  of  Sacramento  Street 
instead  of  by  lighter.  This  wharf  was  crowded  by  a 
miscellaneous  mob,  collected  apparently  with  no  other 
purpose  than  to  view  our  arrival.  Among  them  we  saw 
many  specialized  types  that  had  been  lacking  to  the  old 
city  of  a  few  months  ago  —  sharp,  keen,  businesslike  clerks 
whom  one  could  not  imagine  at  the  rough  work  of  the  mines; 
loafers  whom  one  could  not  imagine  at  any  work  at  all;  dis- 
solute, hard-faced  characters  without  the  bold  freedom  of 
the  road  agents;  young  green-looking  chaps  who  evidently 
had  much  to  learn  and  who  were  exceedingly  likely  to  pay 
their  little  fortunes,  if  not  their  lives,  in  the  learning.  On 
a  hogshead  at  one  side  a  street  preacher  was  declaiming. 

Johnny  had  by  now  quite  recovered  his  spirits.  I  think 
he  was  helped  greatly  by  the  discovery  that  he  still  pos- 
sessed his  celebrated  diamond. 

^'Not  broke  yet!"  said  he  triumphantly.  "You  see  I 
was  a  wise  boy  after  all !    Wish  I  had  two  of  them ! " 

We  disembarked,  fought  our  way  to  one  side,  and  dis- 
cussed our  plans. 

392 


SAN    FRANCISCO    AGAIN 

*'Hock  the  diamond  first,"  said  Johnny,  who  resolutely 
refused  to  borrow  from  me;  "then  hair-cut,  shave,  bath,  buy 
some  more  clothes,  grub,  drink,  and  htmt  up  Talbot  and 
see  what  he's  done  with  the  dust  we  sent  down  from  Hang- 
man's." 

That  program  seemed  good.  We  strolled  toward  shore, 
with  full  intention  of  putting  it  into  immediate  execution. 
*' Inunediate "  proved  to  be  a  relative  term;  there  was  too 
much  to  see. 

First  we  stopped  for  a  moment  to  hear  what  the  preacher 
had  to  say.  He  was  a  tall,  lank  man  with  fine  but  rather 
fanatical  features,  dressed  in  a  long  black  coat,  his  glossy 
head  bare.  In  spite  of  the  nimierous  counter-attractions 
he  had  a  crowd;  and  he  was  holding  it. 

"You're  standing  on  a  whiskey  barrel!"  called  some  one; 
and  the  crowd  yelled  with  delight. 

"True,  my  friend,"  retorted  the  preacher  with  undaunted 
good  nature,  "and  I'll  venture  to  say  this  is  the  first 
time  a  whiskey  barrel  has  ever  been  appropriated  to  so 
useful  a  purpose.  The  critter  in  it  will  do  no  harm  if 
it  is  kept  underfoot.    Never  let  it  get  above  your  feet! " 

A  boat  runner,  a  squat,  humorous-faced  negro  with 
flashing  teeth  and  a  ready  flow  of  language,  evidently  a 
known  and  appreciated  character,  mounted  the  head  of  a 
pile  at  some  little  distance  and  began  to  hold  forth  in  a 
deep  voice  on  the  advantages  of  some  sort  of  an  excursion 
on  the  bay.  A  portion  of  the  preacher's  crowd  began  to 
drift  in  the  direction  of  the  new  attraction. 

"Ho!  ho!  ho!"  cried  the  preacher  suddenly  in  tre- 
mendous volume.    "Ho!  All  ye  who  want  to  go  to  heaven, 

393 


GOLD 

now's  your  time!  A  splendid  line  of  celestial  steamers  will 
run  for  a  few  days  from  San  Francisco  to  the  port  of  Glory, 
a  country  every  way  superior  to  CaHfomia,  having  in  it  the 
richest  gold  diggings  ever  discovered,  the  very  streets  of  the 
city  being  paved  with  gold.  In  that  coimtry  are  oceans 
of  lager  beer  and  drinks  of  every  kind,  all  free;  pretty 
women  also,  and  pleasures  of  endless  variety  exceed- 
ing the  dreams  of  Mohammed  as  far  as  the  brightness  of 
the  meridian  sun  exceeds  the  dim  twinkle  of  the  glowworm! 
Program  for  the  voyage:  embarkation  amid  the  melody  of 
the  best  band  in  the  world;  that  music  that  so  attracted 
you  this  morning  not  to  be  mentioned  in  comparison. 
Appropriate  entertainments  for  each  week  day,  to  be 
announced  daily.  Each  Sunday  to  be  celebrated,  first, 
with  a  grand  feast,  closing  with  a  rich  profusion  of  beer, 
champagne,  good  old  port,  whiskey  punch,  brandy  smashes, 
Tom  and  Jerry,  etc.  Second,  a  game  of  cards.  Third,  a  grand 
ball  in  upper  saloon.  Fourth,  a  dog  fight.  Fifth,  a 
theatrical  performance  in  the  evening.  If  I  could  truth- 
fully publish  such  an  ad  as  that  I  think  about  two  sermons 
T^ould  convert  this  city." 

The  crowd  had  all  turned  back  to  him,  laughing  good- 
humouredly .  The  preacher  stretched  out  his  long  bony  arm  > 
and  held  forth.  His  talk  was  against  gambling,  and  it 
had,  I  am  afraid,  but  little  real  effect.  Nevertheless  he 
was  listened  to;  and  at  the  end  of  his  talk  everybody  con- 
tributed something  to  a  collection. 

At  the  land  end  of  the  wharf  we  ran  into  the  most 
extraordinary  collection  of  vehicles  apparently  in  an  inex- 
tricable tangle,  that  was  further  complicated  by  the  fact 

394 


SAN    FRANCISCO    AGAIN 

that  most  of  the  horses  were  only  half  broken.  They 
kicked  and  reared,  their  drivers  lashed  and  swore,  the 
wagons  clashed  together.  There  seemed  no  possible  way 
out  of  the  mess;  and  yet  somehow  the  wagons  seemed  to  get 
loaded  and  to  draw  out  into  the  clear.  Occasionally 
the  drivers  were  inclined  to  abandon  their  craft  and  do 
battle  with  the  loaded  ends  of  their  whips;  but  always  a 
peacemaker  descended  upon  them  in  the  person  of  a  large 
voluble  individual  in  whom  I  recognized  my  former  friend 
and  employer,  John  McGl3mn.  Evidently  John  had  no 
longer  a  monopoly  of  the  teaming  business;  but,  as  evi- 
dently, what  he  said  went  with  this  wild  bunch. 

Most  of  the  wagons  were  loading  goods  brought  from 
the  interiors  of  storehouses  alongside  the  approach  to  die 
wharf.  In  these  storehouses  we  recognized  the  hulls 
of  ships,  but  so  shored  up,  dismantled,  and  cut  into  by  doors 
and  stories  that  of  their  original  appearance  only  their 
general  shapes  remained.  There  was  a  great  number  of 
these  storehouses  along  the  shore,  some  of  them  being  quite 
built  about  by  piles  and  platforms,  while  two  were  actually 
inland  several  hundred  feet.  I  read  the  name  Niantic 
on  the  stern  of  one  of  them;  and  found  it  to  have  acquired 
In  the  landward  side  a  square  false  front.  It  was  at  that 
time  used  as  a  hotel. 

"Looks  as  if  they'd  taken  hold  of  Talbot's  idea  hard," 
observed  Yank. 

"Say!"  cried  Johnny,  "will  one  of  you  drinking  men 
kindly  take  a  look  and  inform  me  if  IVe  gone  wrong?  " 

This  remark  was  called  forth  by  the  discovery,  as  we 
neared  the  shore,  of  hordes  of  rats.    They  were  large, 

395 


GOLD 

fat,  saucy  rats;  and  they  strolled  about  in  broad  daylight 
as  if  they  owned  the  place.  They  sat  upright  on  sacks 
of  grain;  they  scampered  across  the  sidewalks;  they  scuttled 
from  behind  boxes;  they  rustled  and  squeaked  and  fought 
and  played  in  countless  droves.  The  ground  seemed  alive 
with  them.    It  was  a  most  astonishing  sight. 

"And  will  you  look  at  that  dog!"  cried  Yank  disgus- 
tedly. 

Across  an  open  doorway,  blinking  in  the  sun,  lay  a 
good-looking  fox  terrier.  His  nose  was  laid  between  his 
paws,  and  within  two  yards  of  that  nose  a  large  brown  rat 
disported  itself  with  a  crust  of  bread. 

*'My  Lord!"  cried  Johnny,  his  sporting  blood  aboil. 
**Here,  pup,  sic  'em!  sic  'em!"  He  indicated  the  game 
urgently.  The  fox  terrier  rolled  up  one  eye,  wagged  his 
stub  tail  —  but  did  not  even  raise  his  nose. 

"No  use,"  observed  the  dog's  owner,  who  had  appeared 
in  the  doorway. 

"What's  the  matter  with  him?"  demanded  Johnny  in- 
dignantly; "is  he  sick?" 

"No,  he  ain't  sick,"  replied  the  owner  sadly;  "but  he 
ain't  got  no  use  for  rats.  I  bought  him  for  damn  near  his 
weight  in  gold  dust  when  the  Panama  came  in  last  month. 
He  was  the  best  ratter  you  ever  see.  I  reckon  he  must've 
killed  a  million  rats  the  first  week.  But,  Lord!  he  got 
sick  of  rats.  I  reckon  a  rat  could  go  right  up  and  pidl 
his  whiskers  now,  and  he'd  never  mind." 

We  condoled  with  the  blase  dog,  and  moved  on. 

"Same  old  mud,"  observed  Yank. 

The  place  was  full  of  new  buildings,  some  of  them] 

396 


SAN    FRANCISCO    AGAIN 

quite  elaborate  two-story  structures  of  brick;  and  ele- 
vated plank  sidewalks  had  taken  the  place  of  the  old 
makeshifts.  Although  the  Plaza  was  still  the  centre  of 
town,  the  streets  immediately  off  it  had  gained  considerable 
dignity  and  importance.  There  were  many  clothing  stores, 
nearly  all  kept  by  Jews,  and  a  number  of  new  saloons  and 
gambling  houses.  As  we  were  picking  our  way  along  we 
ran  into  an  old  acquaintance  in  the  person  of  the  captain 
of  the  Panama,  He  recognized  us  at  once,  and  we  drew  up 
for  a  chat.  After  we  had  exchanged  first  news  Johnny  asked 
him  if  he  knew  of  a  place  where  a  fair  price  could  be  raised 
on  the  diamond. 

"Why,  the  jewellery  store  is  your  ticket,  of  course," 
replied  the  captain. 

"So  there's  a  jewellery  store,  too!"  cried  Johnny. 

"And  a  good  one,"  supplemented  the  captain.    "Come 
along;  I'll  take  you  to  it." 

It  was  2L  good  one,  and  carried  a  large  stock  of  rings, 
chains,  pins,  clocks,  watches,  and  speaking  trumpets.  The 
latter  two  items  were  the  most  prominent,  for  there  were 
himdreds  of  watches,  and  apparently  thousands  of  speaking 
trumpets.  They  stood  in  rows  on  the  shelves,  and  depended 
in  ranks  from  hooks  and  nails.  Most  of  them  were  of  silver 
or  of  silver  gilt;  and  they  were  plain,  chased,  engraved, 
hammered,  or  repoussed,  with  always  an  ample  space  for 
inscription.  After  Johnny  had  concluded  a  satisfactory 
arrangement  for  his  diamond,  I  remarked  on  the  prepon- 
derance of  speaking  tnmipets.  The  man  grinned  rather 
maliciously  at  our  captain. 
\"They  are  a  very  favourite  article  for  presentation 

397 


GOLD 

by  grateful  passengers  after  a  successfiil  sea  trip,"  he  said 
smoothly. 

At  this  our  captain  exploded. 

"Are  they?"  he  boomed.  "I  should  think  they  were! 
IVe  got  a  dozen  of  the  confounded  things;  and  as  IVe  just 
got  in  from  a  trip,  I'm  expecting  another  any  minute. 
Good  Lord!"  he  cried  as  a  group  of  men  turned  in  at  the 
door.  "Here  come  some  of  my  passengers  now.  Come 
along,  let's  get  out  of  this!" 

He  dragged  us  out  a  back  door  into  a  very  muddy  back 
alley,  whence  we  floimdered  to  dry  land  with  some  difficulty. 

"That  was  a  narrow  escape!"  he  cried,  wiping  his  brow. 
"Let's  go  get  a  drink.    I  know  the  best  place." 

He  led  us  to  a  very  ornate  saloon  whose  chief  attrac- 
tion was  the  fact  that  its  ceiling  was  supported  on  glass 
pillars!  We  duly  admired  this  marvel;  and  then  wandered 
over  to  the  polished  mahogany  bar,  where  we  were  joined 
by  the  half  dozen  loafers  who  had  been  lounging  aroxiixd 
the  place.  These  men  did  not  exactly  join  us,  but  they 
stood  expectantly  near.    Nor  were  they  disappointed. 

"Come,  let's  all  take  a  drink,  boys!"  cried  the  captain 
heartily. 

They  named  and  tossed  off  their  liquor,  and  then  without 
a  word  of  farewell  or  thanks  shambled  back  to  their  roosting 
places. 

"What's  the  matter,  Billy?"  demanded  the  captain, 
looking  about  curiously.    "Where's  your  usual  crowd?" 

"They're  all  down  at  the  Verandah,"  replied  the  bar- 
keeper, passiQg  a  cloth  over  the  satiny  wood  of  the  bar. 
"Dorgan's  got  a  girl  tending  bar.    Pays  her  some  imgodly 

J98 


SAN    FRANCISCO    AGAIN 

wages;  and  he's  getting  all  the  crowd.  He'd  better  make 
the  most  of  it  while  it  lasts.    She  won't  stay  a  week." 

"Why  not?"  I  asked  curiously. 

' '  Married ;  sure, ' '  replied  the  barkeeper  briefly. 

"And  the  glass  pillars  will  always  be  here;  eh,  Billy?" 
suggested  the  captain.  "Nevertheless  I  beHeve  we'll  just 
wander  down  and  look  her  over." 

"Sure,"  said  Billy  indifferently;  "that's  where  all  the 
rest  are." 

The  Verandah,  situated  on  the  Plaza,  was  crowded  to 
the  doors.  Behind  the  bar  slaved  a  half  dozen  busy 
drink-mixers.  The  girl,  and  a  very  pretty  girl  she  was, 
passed  the  drinks  over  the  counter,  and  took  in  the  dust. 

"She's  straight,"  observed  the  captain  sagaciously, 
after  inspection;  "if  she  wasn't  there  wouldn't  be  such 
a  gang.    The  other  sort  is  plenty  enough." 

We  did  not  try  to  get  near  the  bar,  but  after  a  few 
moments  regained  the  street.  The  captain  said  farewell; 
and  we  himted  up,  by  his  direction,  the  New  York  Tonsorial 
Emporium.  There  we  had  five  dollars'  worth  of  various 
things  done  to  us;  after  which  we  bought  new  clothes. 
The  old  ones  we  threw  out  into  the  street  along  with  a 
vast  collection  of  others  contributed  by  our  predecessors. 

"Now,"  said  Johnny,  "I  feel  like  a  new  man.  And 
before  we  go  any  farther  I  have  a  little  duty  to  perform." 

"Which  is?" 

"Another  drink  at  the  sign  of  the  Glass  Pillars,  or 
whatever  they  call  the  place." 

"We  don't  want  anjrthing  more  to  drink  just  now," 
I  protested. 

399 


GOLD 

"Oblige  me  in  this  one  treat,"  said  Johnny  in  his  best 
manner. 

We  entered  the  Arcade,  as  the  bar  was  called.  At 
once  the  loafers  moved  forward.  Johnny  turned  to  them 
with  an  engaging  air  of  friendliness. 

"  Come  on,  boys,  let's  all  take  a  drink! "  he  cried. 

The  glasses  were  poured.  Johnny  raised  his.  The 
others  followed  suit.  Then  all  drained  them  simultaneously 
and  set  down  the  empty  glasses. 

"And  now,"  went  on  Johnny  in  the  same  cheerful, 
friendly  tone,  "let's  all  pay  for  them!" 

The  loafers  stared  at  him  a  moment.  One  growled 
menacingly,  but  fell  silent  imder  his  clear  glance.  One 
or  two  others  forced  a  laugh.  Under  Johnny's  compelling 
eye  they  all  paid.  Billy,  behind  the  bar,  watched  with 
sardonic  amusement.  When  Johnny  proffered  his  dust,  the 
barkeeper  thrust  it  back. 

"My  treat  here,"  said  he  briefly. 

"But "  objected  Johnny, 

"It's  a  privilege." 

"If  you  put  it  that  way,  I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Johnny 
in  his  grandest  manner;  and  we  walked  out.  "Those 
bums  made  me  tired,"  was  his  only  conmient  to  us.  "Now 
let's  go  hunt  up  Talbot.  I'll  bet  my  extinct  toothbrush 
that  he's  a  well-known  citizen  around  here." 

Johnny's  extinct  toothbrush  was  perfectly  safe.  The 
first  man  of  whom  we  inquired  told  us  where  our  friend 
lived,  and  added  the  gratuitous  information  that  the 
Ward  Block  was  nearing  completion.  We  looked  up  the 
hotel,  a  new  one  on  Montgomery  Street.    The  clerk  spoke 

400 


SAN    FRANCISCO    AGAIN 

with  respect  of  Talbot,  and  told  us  we  would  probably  find 
him  at  one  of  the  several  places  of  business  he  mentioned, 
or  at  the  Ward  Block.  We  thanked  him,  and  went  direct 
to  the  Ward  Block  first.  All  of  us  confessed  to  a  great 
desire  to  see  that  building. 

It  was  to  be  a  three-story  brick  structure,  and  was 
situated  at  one  comer  of  the  Plaza.  We  gazed  upon  it 
with  appropriate  awe,  for  we  were  accustomed  to  logs  and 
canvas;  and  to  some  extent  we  were  able  to  realize  what 
imported  bricks  and  the  laying  of  them  meant.  The  fore- 
man told  us  that  Talbot  had  gone  out  "Mission  way"  with 
Sam  Brannan  and  some  others  to  look  at  some  property, 
and  would  not  be  back  until  late. 

Johnny  and  I  spent  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  wandering 
about.  Yank  retired  to  the  soft  chairs  of  one  of  the 
numerous  gambling  places.  His  broken  leg  would  not  stand 
so  much  tramping. 

We  had  lots  of  fun,  and  many  interesting  minor  adven- 
tures and  encoimters,  none  of  which  has  any  partictdar 
bearing  here.  The  town  had  spread.  Most  of  the  houses 
were  of  the  flimsied  description.  Many  people  were  still 
living  in  tents.  The  latter  flopped  and  tugged  in  the 
strong  wind.  Some  men  had  merely  little  cot  tents,  just 
big  enough  to  cover  the  bed.  An  owner  of  one  of  these 
claimed  stoutly  that  they  were  better  than  big  tents. 

"They  don't  get  blowed  away  by  the  wind,  and  they  re 
fine  to  sleep  imder,"  he  asserted,  "and  a  man  cooks  out- 
side, anyway." 

"How  about  when  it  rains? "  I  asked  him. 

"Then  I  go  down  to  the  Verandah  or  the  Arcade  or 

401 


GOLD 

Dennison's'  Exchange  and  stay  there  till  she  quits/' 
said  he. 

In  the  evenmg,  as  Talbot  had  not  yet  returned,  we  wan- 
dered from  one  place  of  amusement  to  another.  The 
gambling  places  were  more  numerous,  more  elaborate,  more 
important  than  ever.  Beside  the  usual  rough-looking 
miners  and  labourers,  who  were  in  the  great  majority, 
there  were  small  groups  of  substantial,  grave,  important 
looking  men  conferring.  I  noticed  again  the  contrast  with 
the  mining-camp  gambling  halls  in  the  matter  of  noise; 
here  nothing  was  heard  but  the  clink  of  coin  or  the  dull 
thud  of  gold  dust,  a  low  murmur  of  conversation,  or  an 
occasional  full-voiced  exclamation. 

Johnny,  who  could  never  resist  the  tables,  was  soon 
laying  very  small  stakes  on  monte.  After  a  time  I  tired 
of  the  close  air  and  heavy  smoke,  and  slipped  away.  The 
lower  part  of  the  town  was  impossible  on  account  of  the 
mud,  so  I  made  my  way  out  along  the  edge  of  the  hills. 
The  moon  was  sailing  overhead.  The  shadows  of  the  hills 
hung  deep  in  the  hollows;  and,  abroad,  a  wide  landscape 
slept  in  the  imearthly  radiance.  A  thousand  thousand 
cheerful  frogs  piped  up  a  chorus  against  the  brooding 
moon-stillness  they  could  not  quite  break.  After  the 
glare  of  the  Arcade  and  the  feverish  hum  and  bustle  of  the 
busy  new  city,  this  still  peace  was  almost  overpowering. 
I  felt,  somehow,  that  I  dared  not  give  way  to  it  all  at  once, 
but  must  admit  its  influence  trickle  by  trickle  until  my 
spirit  had  become  a  little  accustomed.  Thus  gradually 
I  dropped  into  a  reverie.  The  toil,  excitement,  strain. 
Striving  of  the  past  eight  or  nine  months  fell  swiftly  into 

402 


SAN    FRANCISCO    AGAIN 

the  background.  I  relaxed;  and  in  the  cahn  of  the  relaxa- 
tion for  the  first  time  old  memories  found  room. 

How  long  I  had  tramped,  lost  in  this  dreaming,  I  did  not 
know;  but  at  some  point  I  must  have  turned  back,  for  I 
came  to  somewhere  near  the  end  of  Sacramento  Street  — 
if  it  could  be  said  to  have  an  end  —  to  find  the  moon  far  up 
toward  the  zenith.  A  man  overtook  me,  walking  rapidly; 
I  caught  the  gleam  of  a  watch  chain,  and  on  a  sudden 
impulse  I  turned  toward  him. 

"  Can  you  tell  me  what  time  it  is?  "  I  asked. 

The  man  extended  his  watch  in  the  moonlight,  and 
silently  pointed  to  its  face  —  with  the  muzzle  of  a  revolver! 

"Half -past  twelve,'*  said  he. 

"Good  Lord!"  I  cried  with  a  shout  of  laughter.  "Do 
you  take  me  for  a  robber,  Talbot?  " 


4P3 


CHAPTER  XLm 
THE  GOLDEN  WEB 

He  thrust  away  his  watch  and  the  pistol  and  with  a 
shout  of  joy  seized  both  my  hands. 

"Well!  well!  well!  well!"  he  cried  over  and  over 
again.  "But  I  am  glad  to  see  you!  I'd  no  idea  where 
you  were  or  what  you  were  doing!  Why  couldn't  you 
write  a  man  occasionally?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  I,  rather  blankly.  "I  don't 
believe  it  ever  occurred  to  us  we  could  write." 

"Where  are  the  others?    Are  they  with  you? " 

"  We'U  look  them  up,"  said  I. 

Together  we  walked  away,  arm  in  arm.  Talbot  had 
not  changed,  except  that  he  had  discarded  his  miner's 
rig,  and  was  now  dressed  in  a  rather  quiet  cloth  suit,  a 
small  soft  hat,  and  a  blue  flannel  shirt.  The  trousers 
he  had  tucked  into  the  tops  of  his  boots.  I  thought  the 
loose,  neat  costume  very  becoming  to  him.  After  a  dozen 
swift  inquiries  as  to  our  welfare,  he  plunged  headlong  into 
enthusiasms  as  to  the  town. 

"It's  the  greatest  city  in  the  world!"  he  cried;  then 
catching  my  expression,  he  added,  "or  it's  going  to  be. 
Think  of  it,  Frank !  A  year  ago  it  had  less  than  a  thousand 
people,  and  now  we  have  at  least  forty  thousand.  The 
new  Commercial  Wharf  is  nearly  half  a  mile  long  and 

404 


THE    GOLDEN    WEB 

cost  us  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  but  we  raised 
the  money  in  ten  minutes!  We're  going  to  build  two  more. 
And  Sam  Brannan  and  a  lot  of  us  are  talking  of  putting 
down  plank  roads.  Think  what  that  will  mean!  And 
there's  no  limit  to  what  we  can  do  in  real  estate!  Just 
knock  down  a  few  of  these  hills  to  the  north '* 

He  stopped,  for  I  was  laughing. 

"Why  not  drain  the  bay?"  I  suggested.  "There's  a 
plenty  of  land  down  there." 

"Well,"  said  Talbot  in  a  calmer  manner,  "we  won't 
quite  do  that  But  we'll  put  some  of  those  sand  hills 
into  the  edge  of  the  bay.  You  wait  and  see.  If  you 
want  to  make  money,  you  just  buy  some  of  those  water- 
front lots.  You'll  wake  up  some  morning  to  find  you're 
a  mile  inland." 

I  laughed  again;  but  just  the  other  day,  in  this  year  1899, 
I  rode  in  a  street  car  where  fifty  years  ago  great  ships  had 
lain  at  anchor. 

We  discovered  Johnny  and  Yank,  and  poimded  each 
other's  backs,  and  had  drinks,  and  generally  worked  off 
our  high  spirits.  Then  we  adjourned  to  a  corner,  lit 
cigars  —  a  tremendous  luxury  for  us  miners  —  and  plunged 
into  recital.  Talbot  listened  to  us  attentively,  his  eyes 
bright  with  interest,  occasionally  breaking  in  on  the  narrator 
to  ask  one  of  the  others  to  supplement  some  too  modestly 
worded  statement. 

"Well!"  he  sighed  when  we  had  finished.  "You  boys 
have  certainly  had  a  time!  What  an  experience!  You'll 
never  forget  it!"  He  brooded  a  while.  "I  suppose  the 
world  will  never  see  its  like  again.    It  was  the  chance  of  a 

405 


GOLD 

lifetime.  I'd  like  —  no  I  wouldn't!  IVe  lived,  too. 
Well,  now  for  the  partnership.  As  I  understand  it,  for 
the  Hangman's  Gulch  end  of  it,  we  have,  ail  told,  about 
five  thousand  dollars  —  at  any  rate,  that  was  the  amoimt 
McClellan  sent  down  to  me." 

"That's  it,"  said  I. 

"And  the  Porcupine  Flat  venture  was  a  bad  loss?" 

"The  robbers  cleaned  us  out  there  except  for  what  we 
sent  you,"  I  agreed  regretfully. 

"Since  which  time  Yank  has  been  out  of  it  completely?" 

"Haven't  made  a  cent  since,"  acknowledged  Yank  cheer- 
fully, "  and  I  owe  something  to  Frank,  here,  for  my  keep. 
Thought  I  had  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  but  I  guess 
I  ain't." 

"At  Italian  Bar,"  went  on  Talbot,  "how  much  did  you 
make?" 

"Doesn't  matter  what  I  made,"  interposed  Johnny,  "for, 
as  Frank  told  you,  it's  all  at  the  bottom  of  the  Sacramento 
River." 

"I  did  pretty  well,"  said  I,  and  pulled  out  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  ounces. 

"About  three  thousand  dollars,"  computed  Talbot. 
"You're  the  plutocrat,  all  right.  Well,  I've  done  pretty 
well  with  this  end  of  the  partnership,  too.  I  think  —  but 
I  guess  we'd  better  take  a  fresh  day  to  it.  It  must  be 
ungodly  late.    Good  Lord,  yes!    Three  o'clock!" 

Nobody  would  have  thought  so.  The  place  seemed  nearly 
as  full  as  ever.  We  accompanied  Talbot  to  his  hotel, 
where  he  managed,  after  some  difficulty,  to  procure  us  a 
cot  apiece. 

406 


THE    GOLDEN    WEB 

Our  sleep  was  short;  and  in  spite  of  our  youth  and  the 
vitality  we  had  stored  in  the  healthy  life  of  the  hills  we 
felt  dragged  out  and  tired.  Five  hours'  sleep  in  two  days 
is  not  enough.  I  was  up  a  few  minutes  before  the  rest; 
and  I  sat  in  front  of  the  hotel  basking  in  the  sun  like  a 
lizard.  The  let-down  from  the  toil  and  excitement  of  the 
past  months  still  held  me.  I  thought  with  lazy  satisfaction 
of  the  two  thousand-odd  dollars  which  was  my  share  of 
our  partnership.  It  was  a  small  sum,  to  be  sure;  but,  then, 
I  had  never  in  my  life  made  more  than  twelve  dollars  a 
week,  and  this  had  cost  me  nothing.  Now  that  definitely 
I  had  dropped  overboard  my  hopes  of  a  big  strike,  I 
unexpectedly  found  that  I  had  dropped  with  them  a  certain 
feeling  of  pride  and  responsibility  as  well.  As  long  as  I 
Bad  been  in  the  mining  business  I  had  vaguely  felt  it 
incumbent  on  me  to  do  as  well  as  the  rest,  were  that 
physically  possible.  I  was  out  of  the  mining  business. 
As  I  now  looked  at  it,  I  had  been  mighty  well  paid  for  an 
exciting  and  interesting  vacation.  I  would  go  back  to 
New  York  at  a  cost  of  two  or  three  himdred  dollars,  and 
find  some  good  opening  for  my  capital  and  ability. 

Talbot  appeared  last,  fresh  and  smiling.  Breakfast 
finished,  he  took  us  all  with  him  to  the  new  brick  building. 
After  some  business  we  adjourned  once  more  to  the  Arcade. 
There  Talbot  made  his  report; 

I  wish  I  could  remember  it,  and  repeat  it  to  you  ver- 
batim. It  was  worth  it.  But  I  cannot;  and  the  most 
I  can  do  is  to  try  to  convey  to  you  the  sense  of  that  scene  — 
we  three  tanned,  weather-beaten  outlanders  listening 
open-mouthed  to  the  keen,  competent,  self-assured  magician 

407 


GOLD 

who  before  our  eyes  spun  his  glittering  fabric.  Talbot 
Ward  had  seized  upon  the  varied  possibilities  of  the  new 
dty.  The  earnings  on  his  first  scheme  —  the  ship  store- 
houses, and  the  rental  of  the  brick  building  on  Montgomery 
Street,  you  will  remember  —  amounted  net,  the  first 
month,  I  believe,  to  some  six  thousand  dollars.  With  his 
share  of  this  money  he  had  laid  narrow  margins  on  a 
dozen  options.  Day  by  day,  week  by  week,  his  operations 
extended.  He  was  in  wharves,  sand  lots,  shore  lots,  lighter- 
ing, plank  roads,  a  new  hotel.  Day  after  day,  week  after 
week,  he  had  turned  these  things  over,  and  at  each  turn 
money  had  dropped  out.  Sometimes  the  plaything  proved 
empty,  and  then  Talbot  had  promptly  thrown  it  away, 
apparently  without  afterthought  or  regret.  I  remember 
some  of  the  details  of  one  deal: 

"It  looked  to  me,"  said  Talbot,  "that  somebody  ought 
to  make  a  good  thing  in  flour,  the  way  things  were  going. 
It  all  comes  from  South  America  just  now,  so  enough 
capital  ought  to  be  able  to  control  the  supply.  I  got 
together  four  of  the  big  men  here  and  we  agreed  with  the 
agents  to  take  not  less  than  a  himdred  and  fifty  thousand 
barrels  nor  more  than  two  himdred  thousand  barrels  at 
fourteen  dollars.  Each  firm  agreed  to  take  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars'  worth;  and  each  agreed  to  forfeit  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  failure  to  comply.  Flour 
could  be  held  to  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars  a  barrel; 
so  there  was  a  good  thing." 
" I  should  think  so,"  I  agreed.  "Where  did  you  come  in?  " 
"Percentage  of  the  profits.  They  took  and  sold  quite 
a  heap  of  flour  at  this  rate  —  sixty  thousand  barrels  to  be 

408. 


THE    GOLDEN    WEB 

exact  —  on  which  there  was  a  net  profit  of  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  Then  one  of  those  freak  things  happened 
that  knocked  us  all  silly.  Flour  just  dropped  down  out  of 
sight.  Why?  Manipulation.  They've  got  a  smart  lot 
out  here.  The  mines  had  flour  enough  for  the  time  being; 
and  the  only  thing  that  held  the  price  up  was  the  uncer- 
tainty of  just  where  the  flour  was  coming  from  in  the  future. 
Wellj  the  other  crowd  satisfied  that  uncertainty,  and  our 
flour  dropped  from  about  twenty-five  dollars  down  to  eight! 
We  had  sold  sixty  thousand  barrels,  and  we  had  ninety 
thousand  to  take  on  our  contract,  on  each  one  of  which 
we  were  due  to  lose  six  dollars.  And  the  other  fellows 
were  sitting  back  chuckling  and  waiting  for  us  to  unload 
cheap  flour.'' 

"  What  was  there  to  do?  " 

Talbot  laughed.  "I  told  our  crowd  that  I  had  always 
been  taught  that  when  a  thing  was  hot,  to  drop  it  before 
I  got  burned.  If  each  firm  paid  its  forfeit  it  would  cost 
us  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  If  we  sold  all  the  flour 
contracted  for  at  the  present  price,  we  stood  to  lose  nearer 
six  hundred  thousand.  So  we  simply  paid  our  forfeits, 
threw  over  the  contract,  and  were  three  hundred  thousand 
ahead." 

"But  was  that  fair  to  the  flour  people?"  I  asked  doubt- 
fully. 

"Fair?"  retorted  Talbot.  "What  in  thunder  did  they 
put  the  forfeit  clause  in  for  if  it  wasn't  expected  we  might 
use  it?" 

As  fast  as  he  acquired  a  dollar,  he  invested  it  in  a  new 
chance,  until  his  interests  extended  from  the  Presidio 

409 


GOLD 

to  the  waterfront  of  the  inner  bay.  These  interests  were 
strange  odds  and  ends.  He  and  a  man  with  his  own  given 
name,  Talbot  H.  Green,  had  title  in  much  of  what  is  now 
Harbour  View  —  that  is  to  say,  they  would  have  clear  title 
as  soon  as  they  had  paid  heavy  mprtgages.  His  shares 
in  the  Commercial  Wharf  lay  in  the  safes  of  a  banking  house,  * 
and  the  dollars  he  had  raised  on  them  were  valiantly 
doing  duty  in  holding  at  bay  a  pressing  debt  on  precariously 
held  waterfront  equities.  Talbot  mentioned  glibly  sums 
that  reduced  even  the  most  successful  mining  to  a  child^s 
game.  The  richest  strike  we  had  heard  rumoured  never 
yielded  the  half  of  what  our  friend  had  tossed  into  a 
single  deal.  Our  own  pitiful  thousands  were  beggarly 
by  comparison,  insignificant,  not  worth  considering. 

Of  all  the  varied  and  far-extending  affairs  the  Ward 
Block  was  the  flower.  Talbot  owned  options,  equities, 
properties,  shares  in  all  the  varied  and  numerous  activities 
ol  the  new  city;  but  each  and  every  one  of  them  he  held 
subject  to  payments  which  at  the  present  time  he  could  by 
no  possibility  make.  Mortgages  and  loans  had  sucked 
every  immediately  productive  dollar;  and  those  dollars 
that  remained  were  locked  tight  away  from  their  owner  until 
such  time  as  he  might  gain  possession  of  a  golden  key*' 
This  did  not  worry  him. 

"They  are  properties  that  are  bound  to  rise  in  value/' 
he  told  us.  "In  fact,  they  are  going  up  every  minute  we 
sit  here  talking.    They  are  futures." 

Among  other  pieces,  Talbot  had  been-  able  to  buy  the 
lot  on  the  Plaza  where  now  the  Ward  Block  was  going  up. 
He  paid  a  percentage  down,  and  gave  a  mortgage  for  the 

410 


THE    GOLDE^N    WEB 

rest.  Now  all  the  money  he  could  squeeze  from  all  his 
other  interests  he  was  putting  into  the  structure.  That  is 
why  I  rather  fancifully  alluded  to  the  Ward  Block  as  the 
flower  of  all  Talbot's  activities. 

"Building  is  the  one  thing  you  have  to  pay  cash  for 
throughout,"  said  Talbot  regretfully.  "Labour  and  materials 
demand  gold.  But  I  see  my  way  clear;  and  a  first-class, 
well-appointed  business  block  in  this  town  right  now  is 
worth  more  than  the  United  States  mint.  That's  cash 
coming  in  for  you  —  regularly  every  month.  It  will  pay 
from  the  start  four  of  five  times  the  amount  necessary  to 
keep  everything  else  afloat.  Jim  Reckett  has  taken  the 
entire  lower  floor  at  thirty  thousand.  The  offices  up- 
stairs will  pay  from  a  thousand  a  month  up  and  they  are 
every  one  rented  in  advance.  Once  we  get  our  rents 
coming  in,  the  strain  is  relieved.  I  can  begin  to  take  up  my 
mortgages  and  loans,  and  once  that  is  begim  we  are  on  the 
road  to  Millionaireville." 

Once  more  he  recapitulated  his  affairs  —  the  land 
on  the  Plaza  two  hundred  thousand;  the  building  eighty 
thousand;  the  Harbour  View  lands  anything  they  might 
rise  to,  but  nearly  a  quarter  million  now;  ten  thousand  par 
value  of  the  wharf  stock  already  paying  dividends;  real 
estate  here  and  there  and  everywhere  in  the  path  of  the 
city's  growth;  shares  in  a  new  hotel  that  must  soon  touch 
par;  the  plank  road  —  as  we  jotted  down  the  figures,  and 
the  magic  total  grew,  such  trifling  little  affairs  as  gold  mines 
dropped  quite  below  the  horizon.  We  stared  at  Talbot 
fascinated. 

And  then  for  the  first  time  we  learned  that  the  five 

411 


GOLD 

thousand  dollars  we  had  sent  down  from  Hangman's 
Gulch,  and  the  sum  left  from  the  robbery,  was  not  slum- 
bering in  some  banker's  safe,  but  had  been  sent  dandng 
with  the  other  dollars  at  Talbot's  command. 

"I  didn't  know  just  what  you  fellows  intended,"  said 
he,  "but  we  were  partners  up  there  at  the  mines,  and  I 
concluded  it  would  be  all  right.    You  didn't  mean " 

"  Sure  not ! "  broke  in  Johnny  heartily.  "  You're  welcome 
to  mine." 

"Same  here,"  agreed  Yank  and  I. 

And  then  Talbot  let  us  see  that  he  considered  us  to 
that  extent  partners  in  the  business. 

"I  have  the  date  it  arrived,"  he  told  us,  "and  I  know 
just  how  much  actual  capital  I  had  myself  at  that  time. 
So  I'm  computing  your  shares  in  the  venture  on  that  basis. 
It  comes  to  about  one  tenth  apiece  for  Yank  and  Johnny. 
Frank  and  I  have  an  agreement  already." 

Johnny  stared  at  the  paper  on  which  the  totals  had  been 
pencilled. 

"Not  any!"  he  protested  vehemently.  "It  isn't  fair! 
You've  made  this  thing  by  sheer  genius,  and  it  isn't  fair 
for  me  to  take  a  tenth  of  it  on  the  strength  of  a  measly 
little  consignment  of  gold  dust.  You  give  me  your  note 
for  a  thousand  dollars  —  or  whatever  the  sum  is  —  at 
interest,  if  you  want  to,  and  that's  all  that  is  coming  to  me." 

"I  feel  the  same,"  said  Yank. 

"Boys,"  argued  Talbot  earnestly,  "that  doesn't  go. 
That  five  thousand  saved  me.  It  came  at  a  time  when  I 
had  to  have  money  or  go  down.  I  had  been  to  every  bank, 
to  every  firm,  to  every  man  in  town,  and  I  couldn't 

412 


THE    GOLDEN    WEB 

raise  ten  cents  more.  If  you  refuse  this  thing,  you  will  be 
doing  something  that " 

"Oh,  hush  up,  Tal!"  broke  in  Johnny  gruffly;  "if  that's 
how  you  feel " 

"It  is/' 

"It  is  now,"  said  Johnny  firmly,  "10:30  a.  m.,  but  Fm 
going  to  have  bubbles.  If  you  fellows  don't  want  me  all 
drunk  and  dressed  up,  you've  got  to  help  me  drink  them." 


413 


CHAPTER  XLIV 
PLUTOCRATS! 

We  felt  very  elated  —  and  rather  small.  Talbot  had 
alone  and  without,  so  to  speak,  moving  from  his  tracks, 
made  a  fortune,  while  we,  after  going  through  many 
hardships,  adventures,  and  hard  work,  had  returned  ahnost 
penniless.  One  of  our  first  tasks  was  to  convince  Talbot 
of  the  injustice  to  himself  in  giving  us  shares  based  on  a 
proportionate  money  investment.  We  made  him  see,  after 
a  while,  that  his  own  genius  counted  for  something  in  the 
matter.  He  then  agreed,  but  reluctantly,  to  reduce  our 
shares  to  a  twentieth  each,  and  included  me  in  this,  despite 
our  previous  agreement.  If  we  had  adhered  to  that,  my 
proportion  would  have  been  nearer  a  fortieth. 

This  having  been  decided  —  after  considerable  argument 
- —  we  settled  down  to  wait  for  the  completion  of  the  Ward 
Block.  Once  the  rents  from  that  structure  should  begin 
to  come  in,  it  was  agreed  we  should  take  out  ready  money 
enough  to  return  East.  The  remainder,  less  Talbot^s 
expenses,  would  of  course  have  to  go  back  into  releasing  all 
the  other  interests.  The  formal  opening  had  been  arranged 
for  the  first  of  January. 

In  the  meantime  we  loafed  magnificently,  and  lived  on 
my  money.  Now  that  our  futures  were  all  assured,  Yank 
and  Johnny  condescended  to  temporary  loans.    Occasion- 

414 


PLUTOCRATS! 

ally  we  could  help  Talbot  in  some  of  the  details  of  his 
varied  businesses,  but  most  of  the  time  we  idled.  I  do 
think  we  deserved  a  rest. 

Our  favourite  occupation  was  that  of  reviewing  our 
property.  To  this  end  we  took  long  tramps  over  the  hills, 
himting  painstakingly  for  obscure  comer  stakes  or  monu- 
ments that  marked  some  one  of  our  numerous  lots.  On 
them  we  would  gaze  solemnly,  although  in  no  manner  did 
they  differ  from  all  the  other  sage-brush  hill  country 
about  them.  In  a  week  we  knew  accurately  every  piece 
of  property  belonging  to  Our  Interests,  and  we  had  Hsted 
every  other  more  intangible  equity  or  asset.  One  of  Johnny's 
favourite  feats  was  to  march  Yank  and  me  up  to  a  bar, 
face  us,  and  interrogate  us  according  to  an  invariable 
formula.  We  must  have  presented  a  comical  sight  — 
I  with  my  great  bulk  and  roimd,  fresh  face  alongside  the 
solemn,  lank,  and  leathery  Yank;  both  of  us  drawn  up  at 
attention,  and  solemn  as  prairie  dogs. 

"How  much  is  one  twentieth  of  two  thousand  thousand?  " 
inquired  Johnny. 

"One  hundred  thousand,"  Yank  and  I  chorused. 

"Is  that  a  plutocrat?"  demanded  Johnny  cryptically^ 

"It  is!"  we  cried. 

Our  sense  of  our  own  financial  importance  being  thus 
refreshed,  we  advanced  in  rigid  military  formation  to  the 
bar  and  took  our  drinks.  Two  million  dollars  was  the 
amount  we  had  chosen  as  representing  the  value  of  Our 
Interests.  In  deciding  upon  this  figure  we  considered 
ourselves  very  moderate  in  refusing  to  add  probable 
future  increment.    It  might  also  be  added  that  we  equally 

415 


GOLD 

neglected  to  deduct  present  liabilities.  Nobody  ever 
guessed  what  this  mysterious  performance  of  ours  meant. 
but  every  one  came  to  expect  it  and  to  be  amused  by  it. 
In  a  mild  way  we  and  our  fool  monkeyshines  came  to  be  a 
well-known  institution. 

Having  nothing  else  to  do,  we  entered  heartily  into 
the  life  and  pleasures  of  the  place,  and 'we  met  many  of 
the  leading  citizens.  Some  of  them  have  since  become 
historical  personages..  Talbot  was  hand  in  glove  with 
most  of  them,  and  in  and  out  of  dozens  of  their  schemes. 
There  was  David  Broderick,  a  secretive,  dignified,  square- 
cut,  bulldog  sort  of  a  man,  just  making  his  beginning  in 
a  career  that  was  to  go  far.  I  remember  he  was  then 
principally  engaged  in  manufacturing  gold  coins  and  slugs 
and  buying  real  estate  *  His  great  political  rival.  Dr. 
Gwin  the  Southerner,  I  also  met;  and  Talbot  H.  Green,  then 
and  for  some  time  later,  one  of  the  most  liked  and  respected 
of  men,  but  whose  private  scandal  followed  him  from  the 
East  and  ruined  him;  and  Sam  Brannan,  of  course,  the 
ex-elder  of  the  Mormons;  and  Jim  Reckett,  the  gambler; 
and  W.  T.  Coleman,  later  known  as  Old  Vigilante,  and  a 
hundred  others.  These  were  strong,  forceful  men,  and 
their  company  was  always  interesting.  They  had  ideas 
on  all  current  topics,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
those  ideas.  We  thus  learned  something  of  the  community 
in  which  we  had  been  living  so  long. 

We  heard  of  the  political  difficulties  attendant  on  the 

•Broderick  actually  manufactured  coins  with  face  value  ol  $s  and  $io  containing  but  $4 
and  $8  worth  of  gold.  The  inscription  on  them  was  simply  that  of  the  date,  theilocation, 
and  tne  value.  They  passed  everywhere  because  they  were  naore  convenient  than  dust, 
and  It  was  realized  that  only  the  last  holders  could  lose. 

416 


PLUTOCRATS! 

jumble  of  military  and  unauthorized  civil  rule;  of  the 
convention  at  Monterey  in  September,  with  its  bitterly 
contested  boundary  disputes;  of  the  great  and  mooted 
question  as  to  whether  California  should  be  "slave"  or 
**free";  of  the  doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  status 
of  CaHfornia-made  law  pending  some  action  by  the  Federal 
Congress;  of  how  the  Federal  Congress,  with  masterly 
inactivity  and  probably  some  slight  skittishness  as  to 
mingling  in  the  slavery  argument,  had  adjourned  without 
doing  anything  at  all!  So  California  had  to  take  her 
choice  of  remaining  under  military  governorship  or  going 
ahead  and  taking  a  chance  on  having  her  acts  ratified  later. 
She  choose  the  latter  course.  San  Jose  was  selected  as 
the  capital.  Nobody  wanted  to  serve  in  the  new  legis- 
lature; men  hadn't  time.  There  was  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty in  getting  assembl3mien.  The  result  was  that,  with 
few  exceptions,  the  first  legislature  of  fifty-two  members 
was  composed  of  cheap  professional  politicians  from  the 
South,  and  useless  citizens  from  elsewhere.  This  body 
was  then  in  session.  It  was  invariably  referred  to  as 
"The  Legislature  of  the  Thousand  Drinks."  I  heard  dis- 
cussed numberless  schemes  for  its  control  for  this  or 
that  purpose;  many  of  them,  it  seemed  to  me,  rather  un- 
scrupulous. 

These  big  men  of  the  city  talked  of  other  things  besides 
politics.  From  them  I  heard  of  the  state  of  commercial 
affairs,  with  its  system  of  consignments  and  auctions,  its 
rumours  of  fleet  clipper  ships,  its  comers  of  the  market, 
its  gluttings  with  unforeseen  cargoes  of  unexpected  vessels, 
and  all  the  other  complex  and  delicate  adjustments  and 

417 


GOLD 

changes  that  made  business  so  fascinating  and  so  uncer- 
tain. All  these  men  were  filled  with  a  great  optimism  and 
an  abiding  enthusiasm  for  the  future.  They  talked  of 
plank  roads,  of  sewers,  of  schools,  churches,  hospitals, 
pavements,  fills,  the  razing  of  hills,  wharves,  public  build- 
ings, water  systems;  and  they  talked  of  them  so  soberly 
and  in  such  concrete  terms  of  accomplishment  that  the 
imagination  was  tricked  into  accepting  them  as  solid 
facts.  Often  I  have  gone  forth  from  listening  to  one  of 
these  earnest  discussions  to  look  about  me  on  that  wind- 
swept, sandblown,  flimsy,  dirty,  sprawling  camp  they 
called  a  city,  with  its  half  dozen  "magnificent"  brick 
buildings  that  any  New  England  village  could  duplicate, 
and  have  laughed  wildly  imtil  the  tears  came,  over  the 
absurdity  of  it.  I  was  yoimg.  I  did  not  know  that 
a  city  is  not  bricks  but  men,  is  not  fact  but  the  vitality 
of  a  living  ideal. 

There  were,  of  course,  many  other  men  than  those  I 
have  named,  and  of  varied  temperaments  and  beliefs. 
Some  of  them  were  heard  of  later  in  the  history  of  the  state. 
Terry,  James  King  of  William,  Stephen  J.  Field,  General 
Richardson  were  some  of  those  whose  names  I  remember. 
They  were,  in  general,  frank  and  open  in  manner,  ready 
to  offer  or  take  a  joke,  and  on  terms  of  good-natured 
comradeship  with  each  other;  and  yet  somehow  I  always 
felt  behind  it  all  a  watchful  reservation.  This  was  inde- 
finable, but  it  indubitably  existed.  The  effect  on  me  was  an 
instinct  that  these  men  would  remain  good-natured, 
laughing,  joking,  intimate,  just  as  long  as  nothing  happened 
to  make  them  otherwise.    They  were  a  pack,  hunting  in 

418 


PLUTOCRATS! 

full  cry  the  same  quarry;  but  were  one  of  them  to  fall  out, 
the  rest  would  sweep  on  without  a  backward  glance.  As  an 
individual  human  being  no  one  of  them  was  in  reality 
important  to  any  other.  They  pursued  the  same  aims, 
by  much  the  same  methods,  and  they  could  sometimes 
make  use  of  each  other  to  the  advantage  of  both.  In  the 
meantime,  since  they  as  the  prominent  men  of  a  mixed 
commimity  must  possess  qualities  in  common,  they  found 
each  other  mutually  agreeable.  Many  called  themselves 
friends;  but  I  much  doubt  if  the  friendship  that  would 
render  aid  at  a  sacrifice  was  very  common.  Every  man 
played  his  own  game. 

In  the  town  outside  we  made  many  other  acquaintances, 
of  all  classes  of  society.  In  1849  no  social  stigma,  or 
very  little,  attached  to  any  open  association.  Gamblers 
were  respectable  citizens,  provided  they  ran  straight 
games.  The  fair  and  frail  sisterhood  was  well  represented. 
It  was  nothing  against  a  man,  either  in  the  public  eye  or 
actually,  to  be  seen  talking,  walking,  or  riding  with  one  of 
these  ladies;  for  every  one  knew  them.  There  were  now  a 
good  many  decent  women  in  town,  living  mainly  with  their 
husbands  and  children  very  quietly  among  the  sandhills 
on  the  edges  of  the  town.  One  saw  little  of  them  unless 
he  took  the  trouble  to  search  them  out.  We  did  so,  and 
thus  struck  up  acquaintance  with  a  half  dozen  very  pleas- 
ant households,  where  occasionally  my  New  England  heart 
was  gladdened  by  a  genuine  homebaked  New  England  pie. 
These  pepple  had  children  and  religious  beliefs;  and  for  the 
one  and  the  other  they  had  organized  churches  and  schools, 
both  of  which  were  well  attended.    Furthermore,  such 

419 


GOLD 

institutions  were  contributed  to  by  many  of  the  business 
men  who  never  entered  their  doors.  This  respectable  life 
was  stronger  than  is  generally  known.  It  was  quiet  and 
in  the  background,  and  under  the  deep  shadow  cast  by  the 
glaring  Ught  of  downtown,  but  it  was  growing  in  solidity 
and  strength. 

Among  the  others  we  came  across  the  preacher  we  had 
seen  holding  forth  on  the  wharf.  He  was  engaged,  with 
the  assistance  of  two  men  of  the  Methodist  persuasion, 
in  building  a  church.  The  three  had  themselves  cut  and 
hewed  the  timbers.  Mr.  Taylor,  for  that  was  his  name, 
CL-plained  to  me  that,  having  no  money,  that  seemed  the 
the  only  way  to  get  a  church.  He  showed  us  his  own  place, 
a  little  shack  not  unlike  the  others,  but  enclosed,  and 
planted  with  red  geraniums,  nasturtiums  and  other  bright 
ihings. 

"As  far  as  I  know,"  he  told  us  with  pride,  "that  is 
the  first  garden  in  San  Francisco." 

In  the  backyard  he  had  enclosed  three  chickens  — 
two  hens  and  a  cock. 

"I  paid  eighteen  dollars  for  them,"  said  he. 

We  looked  at  each  other  in  startled  astonishment. 
The  sum  appeared  a  trifle  extravagant  considering  the 
just-acknowledged  impecimiosity  of  the  church.  He 
caught  the  glance. 

"Boys,"  he  said  quaintly,  "San  Francisco  is  a  very 
lonesome  place  for  the  godly.  The  hosts  of  sin  are  very 
strong,  and  the  faithful  are  very  few.  Mortal  flesh  is 
weak;  and  mortat  spirit  is  prone  to  black  discouragement. 
When  I  bought  those  chickens  I  bought  eighteen  dollars' 

420 


PLUTOCRATS! 

worth  of  hope.  Somehow  Sunday  morning  seems  more 
like  the  Sabbath  with  them  clicking  around  sleepy  and  lazy 
and  full  of  sun." 

We  liked  him  so  much  that  we  turned  to  at  odd  times 
and  helped  him  with  his  carpenter  work.  While  thus 
engaged  he  confided  to  us  his  intention  to  preach  against 
the  gambling  the  next  Sunday  in  the  Plaza.  We  stopped 
hammering  to  consider  this. 

"I  shouldn't,  if  I  were  you,"  said  I.  "The  gamblers 
own  the  Plaza;  they  are  respected  by  the  bulk  of  the 
commimity;  and  they  won't  stand  any  nonsense.  They 
none  of  them  think  anything  of  shooting  a  man  in  their 
places.  I  don't  think  they  will  stand  for  it.  I  am  afraid 
Tou  will  be  roughly  handled." 

"More  likely  shot,"  put  in  Johnny  bluntly. 

''Well,  well,  boys,  we'll  see,"  said  Taylor  easily. 

Nor  could  we  move  him,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that,  as 
we  came  to  see  his  intention  was  real,  we  urged  very 
earnestly  against  it. 

"Well,  if  you  will,  you  will,"  Johnny  conceded  at  last, 
with  a  sigh.  "We'll  see  what  we  can  do  to  get  3^ou  a  fair 
show." 

"Now  that  is  just  what  I  don't  want  you  to  do,"  begged 
the  old  man  earnestly.  "I  want  no  vain  contention 
and  strife.  If  the  Lord  desires  that  I  preach  to  these 
sinners,  He  will  protect  me." 

In  the  end  he  extorted  from  us  a  reluctant  promise  not 
to  mingle  in  the  affair. 

"He's  just  looking  for  trouble,"  muttered  Johnny, 
"and  there's  no  doubt  he'll  find  it.    The  gamblers  aren't 


GOLD 

going  to  stand  for  a  man's  cussing  'em  outright  on  their 
own  doorsteps  —  and  I  don't  know  as  I  blame  them. 
Gambling  isn't  such  a  terrible,  black,  unforgivable  sin  as 
I  see  it." 

''That's  because  you're  ahead  of  the  game,  Johnny," 
drawled  Yank. 

"Just  the  same  the  old  fool  is  wrong,"  persisted  Johnny, 
"and  he's  as  obstinate  as  a  mule,  and  he  makes  me  mad 
dean  through.  Nevertheless  he's  a  good  old  sort,  and  I'd 
hate  to  see  him  hurt." 

The  news  spread  abroad,  and  there  was  much  speculation 
as  to  what  would  happen.  In  general  the  sentiment  was 
hostile  to  the  preacher.  It  was  considered  an  unwarrant- 
able interference  with  freedom  for  any  man  to  attempt  to 
dictate  the  conduct  of  another.  Everybody  agreed  that 
religion  was  all  right;  but  by  religion  they  meant  some 
vague  utterance  of  platitudes.  On  the  appointed  Sunday 
a  very  large  crowd  gathered  in  the  Plaza.  Nobody  knew 
just  what  the  gamblers  intended  to  do  about  it.  Those 
competent  citizens  were  as  close  mouthed  as  ever.  But 
it  was  understood  that  no  nonsense  was  to  be  permitted, 
and  that  this  annoying  question  must  be  settled  at  once 
and  fully.    As  one  man  expressed  it : 

"We'll  have  these  fellows  caterwauling  all  over  the 
place  if  we  don't  shut  down  on  them  right  sharp  off  quick." 

Taylor  arrived  about  ten  o'clock  and  proceeded  briskly 
to  the  pork  barrel  that  had  been  rolled  out  to  serve  as  a 
pulpit.    He  faced  a  lowering,  hostile  mob. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "if  some  means  of  communica- 
tion existed  by  which  the  United  States  cotdd  this  morning 

422 


PLUTOCRATS! 

know  that  street  preaching  was  to  be  attempted  in  the 
streets  of  San  Francisco,  the  morning  papers,  badly  in- 
formed as  to  the  temper  and  disposition  of  the  people  of 
this  new  country,  would  feel  themselves  fully  justified  in 
predicting  riot,  if  not  actual  bloodshed.  Furthermore, 
I  do  not  doubt  that  the  greater  dailies  would  hold  their 
forms  open  to  report  the  tragedy  when  news  of  it  should 
come  in.  But  we  of  the  West  know  better  than  that.  We 
know  ourselves  rough  and  ready,  but  we  know  ourselves 
also  to  be  lovers  of  fair  play.  We  know  that,  even  though 
we  may  not  agree  wdth  a  man,  we  are  willing  to  afford  him  a 
fair  hearing.  And  as  for  rioting  or  bloodshed,  we  can 
afford  to  smile  rather  than  become  angry  at  such  wide 
misconception  of  our  decency  and  sense  of  fair  dealing." 

Having  in  this  skilful  fashion  drawn  the  venom  from 
the  fangs  of  the  mob,  he  went  directly  ahead  at  his  sermon, 
hammering  boldly  on  his  major  thesis.  He  finished  in  a 
respectful  silence,  closed  his  Bible  with  a  snap,  and  strode 
away  through  the  lane  the  crowd  opened  for  him. 

Truth  to  tell,  there  was  much  in  the  sermon.  Gambling, 
although  considered  one  of  the  respectable  amusements, 
undoubtedly  did  a  great  deal  of  harm.  Men  dropped  their 
last  cents  at  the  tables.  I  remember  one  young  business 
man  who  had  sold  out  his  share  in  his  firm  for  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  in  cash  and  three  notes  for  five  thousand  each. 
He  had  every  intention  of  taking  this  Httle  fortune  back 
to  his  family  in  the  East,  but  he  began  gambling.  Ffirst, 
he  lost  his  ten  thousand  dollars  in  cash.  This  took  him 
just  two  days.  After  vacillating  another  day,  he  staked 
one  of  the  notes,  at  a  discount,  of  course.    This  he  lost. 

423 


GOLD 

A  second  note  followed  the  first;  and  everybody  confidently 
expected  that  the  third  would  disappear  in  the  same  fashion. 
But  Jim  Reckett,  who  was  a  very  good  sort,  took  this  man 
aside,  and  gave  him  a  good  talking-to. 

"You  confounded  fool/'  said  he,  "you're  barred  from 
my  tables.  My  advice  to  you  is  to  go  to  your  old  partners, 
tell  them  what  an  ass  you've  made  of  yourself,  and  ask  them 
to  let  you  have  a  few  thousand  on  that  last  note.  And  then 
you  leave  on  to-day's  Panama  steamer.  And,  say,  if  they 
won't  do  it,  you  come  to  me." 

The  young  fellow  took  this  advice. 

The  Panama  steamers  were  crowded  to  the  rail.  Indeed, 
the  exodus  was  almost  as  brisk  as  the  immigration,  just  at 
this  time  of  year.  A  moderate  proportion  of  those  going 
out  had  been  successful,  but  the  great  majority  were  dis- 
appointed. They  were  tired,  and  discouraged,  and  home- 
sick; and  their  minds  were  obsessed  with  the  one  idea  —  to 
get  back.  We  who  remained  saw  them  go  with  considerable 
envy,  and  perhaps  a  good  deal  of  inner  satisfaction  that 
soon  we  were  to  follow.  Of  the  thousands  who  were 
remaining  in  California,  those  who  had  definitely  and  per- 
manently cast  their  lot  with  the  country  were  lost  in  the 
crowd.  The  rest  intended  to  stay  another  year,  two  years, 
perhaps  even  three;  but  then  each  expected  to  go  back. 


424 


CHAPTER  XLV 
THE  CATASTROPHE 

So  things  went  along  for  a  month.  Christmas  drew 
near.  Every  joint  in  town  was  preparing  for  a  big  cele- 
bration, and  we  were  fully  in  the  mood  to  take  part  in  it. 
The  Ward  Block  was  finished.  From  top  to  bottom  it  had 
been  swept  and  cleared.  Crowds  came  every  day  to  admire 
the  varnish,  the  glass,  the  fireplaces,  the  high  plastered  walls; 
to  sniff  the  clean  new  smell  of  it.  Everybody  admitted  it 
to  be  the  finest  building  in  the  city.  Yank,  Johnny,  and  I 
spent  most  of  our  time  proudly  showing  people  around, 
pointing  out  the  offices  the  various  firms  intended  to 
occupy.  Downstairs  Jim  Reckett  was  already  installing 
some  of  the  splendours  that  were  to  make  the  transplanted 
El  Dorado  the  most  gorgeous  gambling  place  in  town. 
Here  the  public  was  not  admitted.  The  grand  opening, 
on  New  Year's  day,  was  not  thus  to  lose  its  finest  savour. 

On  Christmas  eve  we  went  to  bed,  strangely  enough,  very 
early.  All  the  rest  of  the  town  was  celebrating,  but  we 
had  been  busy  moving  furniture  and  fixtures,  had  worked 
late  in  order  to  finish  the  job,  and  were  very  tired.  By  this 
time  we  were  so  hardened  that  we  could  sleep  through  any 
sort  of  a  racket,  so  the  row  going  on  below  and  on  both 
sides  did  not  bother  us  a  bit.  I,  personally,  fell  immedi- 
ately into  a  deep  slumber. 

42S 


GOLD 

The  first  intimation  of  trouble  came  to  me  in  my  sleep. 
I  dreamed  we  were  back  on  the  Porcupine,  and  that  the 
stream  was  in  flood.  I  could  distinctly  hear  the  roar  of 
it,  as  it  swept  by;  and  I  remember  Johnny  and  myself 
were  trying  desperately  to  climb  a  big  pine  tree  in  order  to 
get  above  the  encroaching  waters.  A  wind  sprang  up  and 
shook  the  pine  violently.  I  came  slowly  to  waking  con- 
sciousness, the  dream  fading  into  reality.  Yank  was  stand- 
ing by  my  cot,  shaking  me  by  the  shoulder.  He  was  fully 
dressed,  and  carried  his  long  rifle. 

"Get  up!"  he  told  me.  "There's  a  big  fire  one  or  two 
<oors  away,  and  it's  headed  this  way." 

Then  I  realized  that  the  roar  of  the  flames  had  induced  my 
dream. 

I  hastily  slipped  on  my  clothes  and  buckled  my  gold 
belt  aroimd  my  waist.  The  fire  was  humming  away  in  a 
steady  crescendo,  punctuated  by  confused  shouts  of  many 
men.  Light  flickered  redly  through  the  cracks  of  the 
loosely  constructed  hotel  building.  I  found  Johnny  await- 
ing me  at  the  door. 

"It's  a  hummer,"  he  said;  "started  in  Denison's  Ex- 
'  change.    They  say  three  men  have  been  killed." 

The  Plaza  was  black  with  men,  their  faces  red  with  the 
light  of  the  flames,  A  volunteer  crew  were  busily  darting 
in  and  out  of  the  adjacent  buildings,  carrying  out  all 
sorts  of  articles  and  dumping  them  in  the  square. 

"There's  no  water  nearer  than  the  bay,"  an  acquaintance 
shouted  in  our  ears.  "There  ain't  much  to  do.  She'll 
bum  herself  out  in  a  few  minutes." 

The  three  buildings  were  already  gutted.    A   sheet 

426 


THE    CATASTROPHE 

of  fire  sucked  straight  upward  in  the  still  air,  as  steadily 
as  a  candle  flame,  and  almost  as  unwavering.  It  was  a 
grand  and  beautiful  spectacle.  The  flimsy  structures | 
went  like  paper.  Talbot  saw  us  standing  at  a  little; 
elevation,  and  forced  his  way  to  us. 

"It  will  die  down  in  five  minutes,"  said  he.    "What 

'  ,  j 

do  you  bet  on  Warren's  place?    Do  you  think  she'll  i 
go?'' 

"It's  mighty  hot  all  around  there,"  said  I  doubtfully. 

"Yes,  but  the  flames  are  going  straight  up;  and,  as 
you  say,  it  will  begin  to  die  down  pretty  soon,"  put  in' 
Johnny. 

"The  walls  are  smoking  a  little,"  commented  a  bystander, 
judicially. 

"She's  a  fine  old  bonfire,  anyway,"  said  Talbot. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  men  were  trying  to  help  Warren's] 
place  resist  the  heat.  They  had  blankets  and  pails  of 
water,  and  were  attempting  to  interpose  these  feeble 
defences  at  the  points  most  severely  attacked.  Each 
man  stood  it  as  long  as  he  could,  then  rushed  out  to  cool 
his  reddened  face. 

,     "Reminds  me  of  the  way  I  used  to  pop  com  when  I  was 
a  kid,"  grinned  a  miner.    "  I  wouldn't  care  for  that  job." 

"Just  the  same,  they'll  save  it,"  observed  Talbot  judi- 
cially. 

Almost  coincident  with  his  words  a  long-drawn  a-aht 
burst  from  the  crowd.  A  wandering  gust  of  wind  came  in 
from  the  ocean.  For  the  briefest  instant  the  tall  straight 
column  of  flame  bent  gracefully  before  it,  then  came  upright 
again  as  it  passed.    In  that  instant  it  licked  across  the 

427 


GOLD 

side  wall  of  Warren's  place,  and  immediately  Warren's 
place  burst  into  flame. 

"Hard  luck!"  commented  Talbot. 

The  firefighters  swarmed  out  like  bees  from  a  disturbed 
hive. 
'    *'  Our  hotel  next,"  said  Johnny. 

*'That*s  safe  enough;  there's  a  wide  lot  between,"  I 
observed. 

A  fresh  crew  of  firefighters  took  the  place  of  the  others 
^—  namely,  those  personally  interested  in  saving  the  hotel. 
^'    "Lucky  the  night  is  so  still,"  said  Talbot. 

We  watched  Warren's  place  burn  with  all  the  half 
guilty  joy  of  those  who  are  sorry;  but  who  are  glad  to 
be  there  if  it  has  to  happen.  Suddenly  Talbot  threw  "19 
his  head. 

"Feel  that  breeze?"  he  cried. 

"Suction  into  the  fire,"  suggested  Johnny. 

But  Talbot  shook  his  head  impatiently,  trying  to  peer 
through  the  glare  into  the  sky. 

It  was  a  very  gentle  breeze  from  the  direction  of  the 
ocean.  I  could  barely  feel  it  on  my  cheek,  and  it  was 
not  strong  enough  as  yet  to  a£fect  in  the  slightest  the  up- 
ward-roaring column  of  flame.  For  a  moment  I  was 
inclined  to  agree  with  Johnny  that  it  was  simply  a  current 
of  air  induced  by  the  conflagration.  But  now  an  uneasy 
motion  began  to  take  place  in  the  crowd.  Men  elbowed 
their  way  here  and  there,  met,  conferred,  gathered  in 
knots.  In  less  than  a  minute  Talbot  signalled  us.  We 
made  our  way  to  where  he  was  standing  with  Sam  Brannan, 
Casey,  Green,  and  a  few  others. 

428 


THE    CATASTROPHE 

"Thank  God  the  wind  is  from  the  northwest,"  Talbot 
said  fervently.  *'The  Ward  Block  is  safely  to  windward, 
and  we  don't  need  to  worry  about  that,  anyway.  But 
it  is  a  wind,  and  it's  freshening.  We've  got  to  do  something 
to  stop  this  fire." 

As  though  to  emphasize  the  need  for  some  sort  of  action, 
a  second  and  stronger  puff  of  wind  sent  whirling  aloft  a 
shower  of  sparks  and  brands. 

We  started  at  double  quick  in  the  direction  of  the 
flimsy  small  structures  between  the  old  El  Dorado 
and  the  Parker  House.  Some  men,  after  a  moment, 
brought  ropes  and  axes.  We  began  to  tear  down  ,the 
shb,xxties. 

But  before  we  had  been  at  work  five  minutes,  the  fire 
began  to  run.  The  wind  from  the  sea  increased.  Blazing 
pieces  of  wood  flew  through  the  air  like  arrows.  Flames 
stooped  in  their  stride,  and  licked  up  their  prey,  and 
went  on  rejoicing.  Structures  one  minute  dark  and  cold 
and  still  burst  with  startling  suddenness  and  completeness 
into  rioting  conflagration.  Our  little  beginning  of  a 
defence  was  attacked  and  captured  before  we  had  had  time 
to  perfect  it.  The  half  dozen  shanties  we  had  pulled  to 
the  ground  merely  furnished  piled  fuel.  Somewhat 
demoralized,  we  fell  back,  and  tried,  rather  vaguely,  to 
draw  a  second  fine  of  defence.  The  smoke  and  sparks 
suffocated  and  overwhelmed  us,  and  the  following  flames 
leaped  upon  us  as  from  behind  an  ambush.  Some  few 
men  continued  gropingly  to  try  to  do  something,  but  the 
most  of  us  were  only  too  glad  to  get  out  where  we  could 
catch  a  breath. 

420 


GOLD 

Almost  immediately,  however,  we  were  hurried  back 
by  frantic  merchants. 

"Save  the  goods! "  was  the  cry. 

We  laboured  like  slaves,  carrying  merchandise,  fixtures, 
furniture,  anything  and  everything  from  the  darkened 
interiors  of  buildings  to  the  open  spaces.  I  worked  as 
I  had  never  worked  before,  and  not  once  did  I  know  whose 
property  I  thus  saved.  At  first  I  groped  in  the  darkness, 
seizing  what  I  could;  then  gradually,  like  the  glow  of  a 
red  dawn,  a  strange  light  grew,  showing  dimly  and  ruddily 
the  half-guessed  features  of  the  place.  It  glowed,  this 
light,  increasing  in  power  as  heating  metal  slowly  turns 
red.  And  then  the  flames  licked  through;  and  dripping 
with  sweat,  I  abandoned  that  place  to  its  enemy. 

All  sense  of  time  and  all  sense  of  locality  were  lost.  The 
world  was  a  strange  world  of  deep,  concealing  shadows 
and  strong,  revealing  glares,  and  a  mist  of  smoke,  and 
hurrying,  shouting,  excited  multitudes.  Sometimes  I  found 
myself  in  queer  little  temporary  eddies  of  stillness,  where 
a  certain  calm  and  leisure  seemed  to  have  been  insulated. 
Then  for  a  brief  moment  or  so  I  rested.  Occasionally 
I  would  find  myself  with  some  stranger,  and  we  would 
exchange  brief  exclamatory  remarks. 

"Whole  city  is  going!" 

"Looks  like  it." 

"Hear  a  roof  fell  in  and  killed  twenty  men." 

"Probably  exaggerated." 

"Probably.  Don't  catch  me  under  no  falling  roofs! 
When  she  gets  afire,  I  get  out." 

"Same  here." 

430 


THE    CATASTROPHE 

"Well,  I  suppose  we  ought  to  try  to  do  something J^ 

"Suppose  so/' 

And  we  would  go  at  it  again. 

At  the  end  of  two  or  three  hours  —  no  man  can  guess 
time  in  such  a  situation  —  the  fire  stopped  advancing. 
I  suppose  the  wind  must  have  changed,  though  at  the  time 
I  did  not  notice  it.  At  any  rate,  I  found  myself  in  the 
gray  dawn  looking  rather  stupidly  at  a  row  of  the  frailest 
kind  of  canvas  and  scantling  houses  which  the  fire  had 
sheared  cleanly  in  two,  and  wondering  why  in  thunder  the 
rest  of  them  hadn't  burned! 

A  dense  pall  of  smoke  hung  over  the  city,  and  streamed 
away  to  the  south  and  east.  In  the  burned  district  all 
sense  of  location  had  been  lost.  Where  before  had  been 
well-known  landmarks  now  lay  a  flat  desert.  The  fire 
had  burned  fiercely  and  completely,  and,  in  lack  of  food, 
had  died  down  to  almost  nothing.  A  few  wisps  of  smoke 
still  rose,  a  few  coals  glowed,  but  beside  them  nothing 
remained  to  indicate  even  the  laying  out  of  the  former  plan. 
Only  over  across  a  dead  acreage  of  ashes  rose  here  and 
there  the  remains  of  isolated  brick  walls.  They  looked, 
through  the  eddying  mists  and  smoke,  like  ancient  ruins, 
separated  by  wide  spaces. 

I  gazed  dully  across  the  waste  area,  taking  deep 
breaths,  resting,  my  mind  nimib.  Then  gradually  it 
was  borne  in  on  me  that  the  Plaza  itself  looked 
rather  more  empty-sided  than  it  should.  A  cold  hand 
gripped  my  heart.  I  began  to  skirt  the  smouldering 
embers  of  the  shanties  and  wooden  warehouses,  trying 
to  follow  where  the  streets  had  been.    Men  were  prowling 

431 


GOLD 

about  ever5rw^here,  blackened  by  smoke,  their  clothing  tok3 
and  burned. 

"Can  you  make  out  where  Higgins's  store  was?''  one  of 
them  hailed  me.  "I  had  a  little  shanty  next  door,  and 
some  gold  dust.  Figure  I  might  pan  it  out  of  the  ashes, 
if  I  could  only  find  the  place." 

I  had  no  time  to  help  him,  and  left  him  prowling  around 
seeking  for  a  landmark. 

The  Plaza  was  full  of  people.  I  made  my  way  to  the 
northerly  comer,  and,  pushing  a  passage  through  the 
bystanders,  contemplated  three  jagged,  tottering  brick 
walls,  a  heap  of  smouldering  debris,  and  a  twisted  tangle 
of  iron  work.  This  represented  all  that  remained  of  the 
Ward  Block.  The  change  of  wind  that  had  saved  the 
shanties  had  destroyed  our  fortune  1 


43a 


CHAPTER  XLVr 
THE  VISION 

Within  ten  hours  men  were  at  work  rebuilding.  Within 
ten  days  the  burned  area  was  all  rebuilt.  It  took  us 
just  about  the  former  period  of  time  to  determine  that 
we  would  be  unable  to  save  anything  from  the  wreck; 
and  about  the  latter  period  for  the  general  public  to  find  it 
out. 

Talbot  made  desperate  efforts  for  a  foothold,  and  in 
succession  interviewed  all  the  big  men.  They  were  sorry 
but  they  were  firm.  Each  had  been  hard  hit  by  the  fire; 
each  had  himself  to  cover;  each  was  forced  by  circumstances 
to  gras^^  every  advantage.    Again,  they  were  sorry. 

"Yes,  they  are!"  cried  Talbot;  "they  just  reach  out 
and  grab  what  ought  to  be  my  profits!  Well,  it's  the 
game.    I'd  do  the  same  myself. ' 

By  that  night  we  knew  that  Talbot  had  lost  every  piece 
of  property  he  owned  —  or  thought  he  owned.  The  de- 
struction of  the  Ward  Block  swept  away  every  cent  of 
income,  with  the  exception  of  the  dividends  from  the  Wharf 
Company  stock.  These  latter  could  not  begin  to  meet  the 
obligations  of  interest  and  agreed  payments  on  the  other 
property. 

The  state  of  affairs  became  conmionly  known  in  about 
|ten  days  simply  because,  in  those  rapid  times,  obligations 

433 


GOLD 

were  never  made  nor  money  lent  for  longer  periods 
than  one  month.  At  the  end  of  each  thirty  days  they 
had  to  be  renewed.  Naturally  Talbot  could  not  renew 
them. 

We  knew  all  that  long  in  advance,  and  we  faced  the 
situation  with  some  humour. 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Talbot,  "here  we  are.  About  a  year 
ago,  as  I  remember  it,  our  assets  were  a  bundle  of  newspapers 
and  less  than  a  hundred  dollars.  Haven't  even  got  a 
newspaper  now,  but  I  reckon  among  us  we  could  just  about 
scrape  up  the  hundred  dollars." 

"IVe  got  nearer  twenty-seven  hundred  in  my  belt," 
I  pointed  out. 

An  embarrassed  silence  fell  for  a  moment;  then  Talbot 
spoke  up,  picking  his  words  very  carefully. 

"WeVe  talked  that  over,  Frank,"  said  he,  "and  weVe 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  you  must  keep  that  and  go 
home,  just  as  you  planned  to  do.  You're  the  only  man  of  us 
who  has  managed  to  keep  what  he  has  made.  Johnny  falls 
overboard  and  leaves  his  in  the  bottom  of  the  Sacramento; 
Yank  gets  himself  busted  in  a  road-agent  row;  I  —  I  — 
well,  I  blow  soap  bubbles!  YouVe  kept  at  it,  steady  and 
strong  and  reliable,  and  you  deserve  your  good  luck. 
You  shouldn't  lose  the  fruits  of  your  labour  because  we, 
each  in  our  manner,  have  been  assorted  fools." 

I  listened  to  this  speech  with  growing  indignation; 
and  at  its  conclusion  I  rose  up  fxill  of  what  I  considered 
righteous  anger.  My  temper  is  very  slow  to  rouse,  but 
when  once  it  wakes,  it  takes  possession  of  me. 

"Look  here,  you  fellows!"  I  cried,  very  red  in  the 

434 


THE.  VISION 

face,  they  tell  me.  "You  answer  me  a  few  questions.  Are 
wq  or  are  we  not  partners?  Are  we  or  are  we  not  friends? 
Do  you  or  do  you  not  consider  me  a  low-lived,  white- 
livered,  mangy,  good-for-nothing  yellow  pup?  Why, 
confound  your  pusillanimous  souls,  what  do  you  mean  by 
talking  to  me  in  that  fashion?  For  just  about  two  cents 
I'd  bust  your  fool  necks  for  you  —  every  one  of  you!"  I 
glared  vindictively  at  them.  "Do  you  suppose  I'd  make 
any  such  proposition  to  any  of  you  —  to  ask  you  to  sneak 
off  like  a  whipped  cur  leaving  me  to  take  the " 

"Hold  on,  Frank,"  interposed  Talbot  soothingly.  "I 
didn't  mean " 

"Didn't  you?"  I  cried.  "Well,  what  in  heU  did  you 
mean?  Weren't  you  trying  to  make  me  out  a  quitter?" 
I  had  succeeded  in  working  loose  my  heavy  gold  belt,  and 
I  dashed  it  on  the  table  in  front  of  them.  "There!  Now 
you  send  for  some  gold  scales,  right  now,  and  you  divide 
that  up!  Right  here!  Damn  it  all,  boys,"  I  ended, 
with  what  to  a  cynical  bystander  would  have  seemed  rather 
a  funny  slump  into  the  pathetic,  "I  thought  'we  were  all 
real  friends!    You've  hurt  my  feelings!" 

It  was  very  young,  and  very  ridiculous  —  and  perhaps 
(I  can  say  it  from  the  vantage  of  fifty  years)  just  a  little 
touching.  At  any  rate,  when  I  had  finished,  my  comrades 
were  looking  in  all  directions,  and  Talbot  cleared  his 
throat  a  number  of  times  before  he  replied. 

"Why,  Frank,"  he  said  gently,  at  last,  "of  course 
we'll  take  it  —  we  never  dreamed  —  of  course  —  it  was 
stupid  of  us,  I'll  admit.  Naturally,  I  see  just  how  you 
feel " 

435 


GOLD 

"It  comes  to  about  seven  hundred  apiece,  don't  it?" 
drawled  Yank. 

The  commonplace  remark  saved  the  situation  from  ba- 
thos, as  I  am  now  certain  shrewd  old  Yank  knew  it  would. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  your  shares,  boys?" 
asked  Talbot  after  a  while.  "  Going  back  home,  or  mining? 
Speak  up,  Yank." 

Yank  spat  accurately  out  the  open  window. 

"IVe  been  figgering,"  he  replied.  "And  when  you  come 
right  down  to  it,  what's  the  use  of  going  back?  Ain't  it 
just  an  idee  we  got  that  it's  the  proper  thing  to  do?  What's 
the  matter  with  this  country,  anyway  —  barring  mining?  " 

"Barring  mining?"  echoed  Talbot. 

"To  hell  with  mining!"  said  Yank;  "it's  all  right 
for  a  vacation,  but  it  ain't  noways  a  white  man's  stiddy 
work.    Well,  we  had  our  vacation." 

*  *  Then  you're  not  going  back  to  the  mines?  " 

"Not  any!"  stated  Yank  emphatically. 

"Nor  home?" 

"No." 

"What  then?" 

"I'm  going  to  take  up  a  farm  up  thar  whar  the  Pine 
boys  is  settled,  and  I'm  going  to  enjoy  life  reasonable. 
Thar's  good  soil,  and  thar's  water;  thar's  pleasant  pros- 
pects, and  lots  of  game  and  fish.  What  more  does  a  man 
want?  And  what  makes  me  sick  is  that  it's  been  thar  all 
the  time  and  it's  only  just  this  minute  I've  come  to  see  it." 

"Mines  for  you,  Johnny,  or  home?"  asked  Talbot. 

"Me,  home?"  cried   Johnny;  "why "  he  checked 

himself,  and  added  more  qxiietly.    "No,  I'm  not  going 

436 


THE    VISION 

home.  There's  nothing  there  for  me  but  a  good  time,  when 
you  come  right  down  to  it.  And  mines?  It  strikes  me 
that  fresh  gold  is  easy  to  get,  but  ahnighty  hard  to  keep." 

"You  never  said  a  truer  word  than  that,  Johnny," 
I  put  in. 

"Besides  which,  I  quit  mining  some  time  ago,  as  you 
remember,"  went  on  Johnny,  "due  to  an  artistic  aversion 
to  hard  work,"  he  added. 

"Any  plans?"  asked  Talbot. 

"I  think  I'll  just  drift  up  to  Sonoma  and  talk  things 
over  with  Danny  Randall,"  repKed  Johnny  vaguely. 
"He  had  some  sort  of  an  idea  of  extending  this  express 
service  next  year." 

"And  you?  "  Talbot  turned  to  me. 

"I,"  said  I,  firmly,  "am  going  to  turn  over  my  share 
in  a  business  partnership  with  you;  and  in  the  meantime 
I  expect  to  get  a  job  driving  team  with  John  McGlynn 
for  enough  to  pay  the  board  bill  while  you  rustie.  And 
that  goes ! "  I  added  warningly. 

"Thank  you,  Frank,"  replied  Talbot,  and  I  thought 
I  saw  his  bright  eye  dim.  He  held  silent  for  a  moment. 
"Do  you  know,"  he  said  suddenly,  "I  believe  we're  on  the 
right  track.  It  isn't  the  gold.  That  is  a  bait,  a  glittering 
bait,  that  attracts  the  world  to  these  shores.  It's  the 
country.  The  gold  brings  them,  and  out  of  the  hordes 
that  come,  some,  like  us,  will  stick.  And  after  the  gold 
is  dug  and  scattered  and  all  but  forgotten,  we  will  find  that 
we  have  fallen  heirs  to  an  empire." 

THE  END 

437 


NOTE 

The  author  desires  fully  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to 
the  following  writers,  from  whose  books  he  has  drawn  freely, 
both  for  historical  fact,  incidents,  and  the  spirit  of  the  times: 

Tuthill  —  History  of  California. 

Foster  —  The  Gold  Regions  of  California. 

Stillman  —  Seeking  the  Golden  Fleece. 

Taylor  — El  Dorado. 

Delano  —  Life  on  the  Plains, 

Shinn  —  Mining  Camps. 

Brooks —  Four  Months  Among  the  Gold  Finders. 

Johnson  —  Sights  in  the  Gold  Region  and  Scenes  by  the  Way. 

Bostwicks  —  Three  Years  in  Califomia. 

Shaw  —  Ramblings  in  Califomia. 

Hittell  —  History  of  San  Francisco. 

Bates  —  Four  Years  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Taylor  —  Califomia  Life  Illustrated. 

Marryatt  —  Mountains  and  Molehills. 

James  —  The  Heroes  of  California. 

Hunt  —  Califomia  the  Golden. 

Haskins  —  The  Argonauts  of  California. 

Bell  —  Reminiscences  of  a  Ranger. 

Royce  —  California. 

Eldredge  —  Beginnings  of  San  Francisco. 

Langford  —  Vigilante  Days  and  Ways. 

The  author  desires  further  to  announce  that,  provided 
nothing  interferes,  he  hopes  to  supplement  this  novel  with  two 
others.  They  also  will  deal  with  early  days,  and  will  be  entitled 
The  Gray  Dawn,  and  The  Rose  Dawn, 


I 


DUE  C 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


